


Survival of the fittest

by roosanne



Category: AOA | Ace of Angels, Big Bang (Band), Block B, Boys Republic (Band), EXO (Band), Mamamoo, SHINee, Super Junior, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS, 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-30 15:16:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5168621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roosanne/pseuds/roosanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow these young man on their quest for survival, as they fight for themselves, their loved ones but most of all: change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preview

 


	2. 1

He awoke with a gasp. Cold sweat laced his skin and his heart was beating faster than a hummingbird. Panting he tried to calm down as his eyes adjusted to the morning light shining through little holes in the wall. His nightmares were not uncommon and to be frank he'd gotten used to the sensation of waking up in pure terror. His mind had enough material to feed his nightmares for most nights of the year, and it was the same today. Especially today. Groaning he turned around to see two eyes watching him from across the small room. 

''Jaehyo?'' A small voice piped out.

''It's okay, Minhyuk.'' Jaehyo tried to assure his best friend who just nodded but he could see in his eyes that both of them didn't believe the lie he just dropped. Minhyuk was going through enough without having to worry about the both of them. 

Sighing he pushed the covers off of him. It was cold and dirty in their little 'house'. House was too fancy of a word, shed would be a better word for it. Just a few shelves constructed together with a canvas to protect them from the rain. You could barely stand inside and there was only room for two 'beds' and a little place they could wash themselves. Minhyuk had managed to take a cupboard from his old house before everything happened, so they had a little place where they could put their possessions in, though that didn't consist of much. 

''We better get dres-'' Jaehyo started before they heard the faint alarm in the distance. 

Minhyuk washed up last night so he could just dress himself into the most proper outfit they could manage to find, but Jaehyo still had to wash himself in the barrel of cold water. Though he was sitting with his back to Minhyuk, he could feel his eyes in his back. Minhyuk always seemed to stare at him, sometimes it seemed to check if Jaehyo was still there, sometimes with another underlying emotion Jaehyo couldn't make out. 'You may never find out'. The thought crossed him and he shuddered. As much as he tried to push these thought back as far as he could in his mind, what was coming was inevitable. Because it was the girl's turn last year, there was a chance he or Minhyuk might be reaped, neither was a possibility he could live with. 

Deciding there was no point in exploring these thoughts any further he began to dress. Minhyuk was ready to go when he was on and they were on their way. Because their housing was technically illegal they had to build it as far away from the peacekeepers. Not that they cared much about two orphans, but still. They must have been walking for at least an half our before he began to hear faint panting next to him. Jaehyo sighed. 

''Do you need to sit down?'' Jaehyo grabbed his arm but Minhyuk roughly pulled his arm loose. 

''I- I'm f-f'' He gasped for air. ''fine.'' 

There was no point in protesting, once Minhyuk had set his mind on something he wasn't going to give in. Slowly they started to pass houses. There were mothers saying goodbyes to their sons, some of the younger boys were crying while their fathers stood absent. Jaehyo had decided long ago that he didn't want children, what parent could see their child of to be possibly slaughtered in an arena? And you could see in their faces, the pain but sometimes also the apathy how terrible that may sound. Just get a lot of children, some are bound to survive, right? 'Disgusting' Jaehyo thought as he entered the town central with a wheezing Minhyuk besides him, who was getting closer and closer to him with each step they took. He knew Minhyuk was scared and that the other boy depended on Jaehyo, but this was something he couldn't protect him from, nobody could. 

They signed in and the peacekeepers checked if everyone was here. They were of course, nobody dared to stay at home when the punishment was painfully clear. In the past a few families had tried to hide their children from the reaping, though they weren't here today to tell the story of what happened after that. 

Because of their different last names they briefly said their goodbyes. 

''See you later.'' Minhyuk tried to speak confidently with a smile, though the sides of his mouth trembled with fear, and his eyes begged for someone to get him out of here, an absolution that will never come. 

''Yeah, see you later Minhyukkie.'' Jaehyo smiled as easy as he could muster up. 

Walking towards the front of the line, he could see how much smaller the reaping was than the years before. District 12 was already the smallest district but with the influenza that happened in the beginning of this year, they were really thinned down in numbers. He gulped, this wasn't good for their odds. He wasn't the only one realizing this, he could feel it in the air, the tension even impossibly tighter. 

Though one of the faces stood out, a small boy with a scared look on his face was glancing around him. His dirty ash blonde hair framing his small face while he bit his lip. 

''Ukwon!'' Jaehyo approached him, it was a while since he saw the other boy. They were friends in school and always sat together in class before Minhyuk joined them. He was quiet and a tendency for nervousness, but one of his smiles could light up the whole districts. After school, Ukwon had landed the job in the small parliament and they had grown apart because of their different environments. But now here they were, as equals. The law had no exceptions. 

''H-Hey Jaehyo'' The blonde haired boy answered, fidgeting his hands. 

''Are you looking for someone?'' Jaehyo asked when Ukwon looked behind him once again. 

''My brother. He said he would be here but I can't find him anywhere.'' Ah that's right. Ukwon's brother had already retired from the reaping. The rule was that you had to participate in the reaping for 5 years, but you could choose yourself when you wanted to enter, if you were between the ages of 12 and 26. It was cruel really, because the later you started, the more times your name would be in the lottery. So seeing as there were districts that actually trained their tributes whom waited until they were old enough so they could volunteer when they were in best shapes. Whereas in district 12 where the children were poor, weak and frightened most of the children entered when they were 12, only to be slaughtered by a 25 year old tribute from district 1 fore example in the arena. 

Jaehyo was about to answer when one of the peacekeepers began to check if everyone was in place. 

''You better go Jaehyo, wouldn't want you to be late.'' Ukwon gave one of his iconic smiles though it did not reach his eyes. Jaehyo just nodded and walked to the other few with the 'A' as their last name, at the beginning of the line. 

All too soon he heard the sickening tune that started the beginning of the games, and the mayor of district 12 came to the stage they had build in front of the town hall. After a short history of the country, and the reason that was supposed to justify letting children fight each other to death in the hunger games, the mayor spoke the words that he didn't even need to read of a paper that was written for him. Everyone knew the words and Jaehyo had to resist the urge to sarcastically murmur the words with the mayor. 

''In the penance for their uprising, each district shall offer up 3 members at a public reaping. These tributes shall be delivered to the custody fo the Capitol and then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains: the ultimate universal superstar. Hencefroth and forevermore this pagaent shall be known as: "The Kpop Games''. 

Everyone clapped though he couldn't imagine anyone in the capitol actually believing this fake enthusiasm. The fear on their faces must have been picked up by the cameras that were moving around them, not that anyone cared. They just wanted the spectacle on TV, the sensation, the  _murder._  


 

After the mayor was done speaking, someone from the capitol came forward to give a little speech and then the moment that everyone had been waiting for would be there. The women was still speaking though Jaehyo couldn't hear a word of what she was saying, his ears were buzzing and he had trouble focusing. Desperately he looked through the crowd to pick up a sign of Minhyuk, but the L line was far away from him and he was lost in the sea of faces. Vaguely he registered the women on stage walking forward to the buckets full of names, full of his name, since he entered when he was 21. Excruciatingly slow she moved forward to pick out a name card out of the bucket. 

 

''Park Kyung.'' 

 

Her shrill voice rang over the town square. It was dead silent and for a moment it seemed like no one was going to move on stage. Until a blonde haired boy stepped for. He was smaller than Jaehyo and didn't look particularly strong. As he slowly walked onto the stage with every eye on him, Jaehyo could see everyone had the same conclusion. Dead.

 

It seemed incredibly harsh, and it was. But there was a reason district 12 was without winners, except for one victor a few years ago. They were weak and being reaped was basically a death sentence. 

 

The women moved forward again to pick the next name. He broke out in sweat and closed his eyes. 'Not me, not me, not me'. 

 

 

''Lee Minhyuk'' 

 

The whole world around him stopped. It took his mind a moment to register what just happened. Minhyuk. His Minhyuk. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. Of course he could see him now. Everyone around him had taken a step back as if they were afraid he would somehow affect them. He didn't look that scared, he was pale but he had a determined look on his face. Somehow Jaehyo could swear he could hear his breathing from where he was standing. His irregular breathing. Oh god, after the fire Minhyuk hasn't even been able to even walk properly for thirty minutes before being out of breath. Everyone was looking at him and Jaehyo could see the same realization they had before. Dead. 

No. No no no no. He could see Minhyuk taking a step forward, one step closer to his grave. No, he had promised to take care of Minhyuk. No, Minhyuk was his best friend. No, he could never live with himself. 

''I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!'' 

A foreign voice that he did not recognize called over the square. It took him a moment to realize that it had been his own voice. After that it seemed like it was silent for a very long time. Everyone around him had moved back too, not wanting to give the impression that it had been one of them. 

''Well come on then! We have a tribute! Isn't this wonderful? Come on boy.'' The same nauseating voice called over the square. 'Ah, she is talking to me' Jaehyo absently thought while his legs were already moving forward. 

''N-No-o! J-Jaehyo, you c-can't!'' He heard a voice called out with trouble breathing. ''Jae-'' The voice was cut of and he looked behind to see Ukwon holding his hand over Minhyuks mouth while holding him back. Tears were pouring out of Minhyuk's eyes, which was rare because he hated crying in public. He hated weakness in general and he must despise Jaehyo for doing this. 

He could feel everyone's eyes on him, but he couldn't care less. He was dead. The only soothing thought was that he might see his parents again, but then again not before being slaughtered and probably cut into pieces. His legs were shaky as he walked onto the stage and looked out upon the crowd that was standing in the square. A last name was called upon the stage but Jaehyo wasn't paying attention. Eventually he saw another small boy with black hair and round glasses walk upon the stage. Secretly he had been hoping for a tall, strong man so that they could at least have someone returned, but the odds weren't in their favor. They were all going to die, and everyone knew it. 


	3. 2

Jaehyo sat down first, bravely facing the man who was sitting in the chair facing him while the two other boys stayed behind. The man in front of him watched him with sharp eyes which were decorated with black eye shadow. Blonde hair framed his face which had an arrogant expression on it. There wasn't a soul in district 12 who didn't know who he was, Woo Jiho, or Zico as he liked to go by himself. The only victor district 12 ever had. 

His reputation was brute, story goes that before he went into the games he had been a bright young ambitious kid with not one bad bone within him. But the games had changed him. Even though he won the games without killing a single soul, outsmarting his enemies and even trying to protect the weaker one. His only flaw was that he was born arrogant. And the games brings out the worst in people so he came under the illusion that he was invincible. He didn't hide his dismay with the capitol, this in combination with not playing the games the way the Capitol wanted him to, resulted in him returning to find his family laying dead on the floor of his brand new home. After that he spend most of his times hiding away in his wealth whilst ignoring the suffering children from district 12. He had no friends, no family and barely left the house. Except for occasions like these when he had the pleasure of sending 3 children to their death bed. 

Because Zico had entered the games when he was 13, Jaehyo was actually his senior. Under the blonde haired boys sight he would normally feel very small, but now he just felt numb. He was trying to block the image of Minhyuk's crying face out of his mind, but he couldn't help but to wonder if he had made the right decision. He had only though about how he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he lost his best friends like this, but wouldn't Minhyuk feel the same? And wouldn't this be a thousand times worse? 

Minhyuk wouldn't last long because of his breathing problem, but it wasn't as if Jaehyo knew anything about fighting. He wasn't particularly strong nor did he know anything about how to survive in different environments. And who knows what kind of sick arena they had thought up this time? His only advantage was that he was fast. But then again, you can only run for so far.

''I can't make out if you're extremely brave or just an idiot.'' 

Jaehyo looked up. Zico was still looking intensely at him when he continued while he moved forward in his chair and laid his face on his hands. 

''Or maybe just a winning combination of both.'' 

Jaehyo opened his mouth but no sound came out, what could he say honestly? Finally he looked away, averting his eyes to the floor. 

''Aish, I'm gonna go with idiot. And what about you two? Anything intelligent to say?''

The black haired boy visually took a step back and Kyung just looked like a deer caught in the light. Zico just groaned and put his head in his hands. 

''Well, at least I don't have to get my hopes up.'' Zico mumbled, loud enough for the three of them to hear and the kid with the glasses looked like he was going to puke. 

''Ý-You don't even know us.'' Kyung stated. This was surprising, he didn't look like the type to stand up and Jaehyo felt like in any other situation he would feel respect. Zico let out a roaring laugh even though his smile didn't reach his eyes. 

''Look sorry kid, but you don't exactly look the type who is going on a killing spree in the arena.''

''You didn't and you still won.'' Kyung said back so snarky that Jaehyo had to bite back a laugh. He decided he liked Kyung, he may still cut him into pieces in the arena, but still. Zico smirk immediately fell of his face and he stood up to walk out of the little office they were put in.

''Just count your last days kid and say goodbye. Trust me.'' Zico spoke apathetically, he almost reached the door before Kyung fought back.

'''You are supposed to coach us! Tell us how to act after we leave this room! I have a little brother to take care of, you may not have your family anymore bu-''

It was the wrong thing to say. Zico moved around and faster than Jaehyo's eyes could comprehend he had the small boy by his collar, holding him up so that Kyung had to stand on his toes. For a moment it seemed like he was going to punch the shit out of him before he suddenly let go and took a step back and began checking them one by one before his eyes lingered on Jaehyo. He looked down upon Kyung with the most peculiar expression. As if he was trying to find something in his eyes, something he couldn't really put himself. He must have decided he found the thing he was looking for because he turned to Jaehyo, pointing at him with his finger. 

''You, you're handsome. There are going to be a lot of sponsors but you need to drag it out.''

''D-Drag it out?'' Jaehyo stuttered.

'' _Flirt_  with them, blow kisses at the women, give a charming interview. Make them notice you.'' Jaehyo didn't know how to answer this so he just nodded as Zico moved over to Kyung. 

''I think you're annoying as fuck, but people may think it's funny. That's how you're going to act, make them laugh. Act as if you believe you're going to win. Be arrogant, they love that.'' 

''Aye aye,  captain.'' Kyung answered while he saluted. The smaller boy next to him let out a laugh but Zico just shot him a sour look.

The smile quickly disappeared when he realized he was last and Jaehyo could almost feel the tension coming off of the black haired boy who nervously pushed back his round glasses. Zico took him in from head to toe searching for anything that could help him get advanced in the games. 

''What is your name?''

''T-Taeil, sir'' He spoke back sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. 

''Y-You're.. well, you're.... cute? I guess?''  Zico stated at last. 

''Tsk I'm 4 years your senior!'' Taeil scoffed, surprising everyone who was present in the room. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaehyo nervously sat in the waiting room. He was told to wait here until his family came to visit, which in Jaehyo's case meant one person. Minhyuk. To be honest he had absolutely no idea what to expect. He'd been through everything with Minhyuk, his darkest moments when they were betrayed by people they thought they could trust, and Jaehyo wondered if Minhyuk considered him to be one of those people right now. 

He was startled by the door opening and Jaehyo looked up from the chair he was sitting in. The room was small and probably wired with eavesdropping material and he was directly facing the door, Minhyuk came in with an unreadable expression on his pale face. Slowly he walked towards Jaehyo who didn't know what to do. Minhyuk raised his arm and before Jaehyo knew what was happening he felt the impact on his face. He had never been punched in his life and it actually hurt. A lot. But at the moment he was too focused on a crying Minhyuk who fell to his knees and buried his crying face into Jaehyo's chest. 

He raised his hand to go through his black hair but when he touched the top of his head, Minhyuk weakly began punching on his chest. He was at a loss with no idea how to react to the current situation, there was nothing he could say that could make it better but somehow saying nothing only made it worse. So he let Minhyuk take out all his anger on his chest while he gently hold on to his shoulders and rubbed his thumb over the fabric of his shirt. After a while he could hear Minhyuk calming down, some time after he stopped feeling the stream of tears coming through his own shirt. 

''You're such an idiot.''

''You know, that's not the first time I've heard that today.'' Jaehyo joked halfheardtly.Minhyuk didn't respond and it took some time before he had formulated the question he wanted to ask:

''Why?''

Jaehyo was at a lost of words. What could he say? Because you're weak, and probably wouldn't last one hour? Because you are incapable of inflicting pain onto others? Because I'm selfish and couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in this living hell without you, but are comfortable leaving you here behind? There was nothing to say that Minhyuk didn't already knew. He didn't get a proper education but he was smart, and he knew Jaehyo through and through. So Jaehyo just settled for winding his fingers in his black plucks. And waited for Minhyuk to say another word or for the peacekeeper to came in the small room and separate them forever. 

''I wanted to volunteer too, you know.'' Minhyuk finally broke the silence. ''I was planning to from the moment you set foot on that stage, the last tribute would have been me. Ukwon wouldn't let me.'' Jaehyo could hear his voice break in the middle of the last sentence and he hugged Minhyuk even closer to him, laying his head onto Minhyuks'. 

''I would never haven forgiven you.'' 

''Oh but I'm supposed to forgive you?'' Minhyuk shouted back while he pushed himself off of Jaehyo, standing up and turning his back to him. His fist were clenched so tight that you could see the white on his knuckles. ''I'm supposed to wait before they return your corpse? Knowing that it should have been me? I never asked for any of this!'' 

Jaehyo had never heard Minhyuk talk this way. Usually when he was angry with Jaehyo he would just be quiet and keep to himself when he was angry. He barely ever said how he truly felt. He had this mask, this wall that was almost impregnable. But this was Minhyuk, raw and uncut. 

The door opened and both of them realized that they had wasted their last minutes. Jaehyo stood up and moved towards Minhyuk, hugging him tightly. 

''Ýou come back, okay? You have to win, Jaehyo!'' 

Two peacekeepers walked in and began tugging at Jaehyo's arms, prying him off of him. He just closed his eyes and hold onto his best friend, hoping this was all just a bad dream. That soon Minhyuk would shook him awake from his nightmare, as he did so often. And he would smile at him while sun came in through the small holes in their walls and for a small moment, a second, everything would seem wonderful. A moment he would never relive again on this world. 

''N-no, let go off me! Jaehyo! You have to come back! You have to come back, _to me_!'' 

The peacekeepers had have enough by and suddenly he heard a blow and Minhyuk felt limp in his arms. When he opened his eyes he saw one of the peacekeepers put away his bat. One of the peacekeepers grabbed Jaehyo and pushed him into the corner of the room where he landed painfully hard with his back on the ground. The other one wounded his arms under Minhyuk's shoulder and dragged the unconscious boy out of the room. 

Jaehyo stayed in that corner for a long time. The door was still open so he could leave and find the other two boys who were one of the few who actually knew what he was going to right now. It was a strange feeling, knowing you were going to die. He had never been a religious person and detested those who preached 'the new religion' in the town square where they preyed on the poor. But now he hoped there was something after death, that he could be reunited with his family. But perhaps most of important of all: that he could be reunited with Minhyuk. 


	4. 3

_The road before him was dark, to his right was a broken lantern which once would have given him the comfort of seeing more than 2 meters ahead but now he was all alone. From afar he could hear something approaching, it didn't sound human nor could it have been an animal. It was as he otherwise could have felt the impact on the ground but now he knew that it didn't touch the soil under his feet. It was coming closer and he could make out a distinct wheezing. He wanted to move, to run in the other direction but his feet wouldn't move. In the distant he could hear a toe curling scream followed by a loud canon._

_Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, roughly turning him around and grabbing his shoulders._

_''Close your eyes Jaehyo.''_

_Startled but still submitting to the request he closed his eyes. His entire body was shaking and he could still hear the panting, louder and louder now until realizing it had been his own this whole time. The inhuman beast in the dark was inside of him, and the cold hand on his shoulder was the only thing keeping him from fainting._

_'''M-Mom?'' Jaehyo's voice croaked and sounder far away, as if it wasn't his own._

_''You can't trust what you see! Don't forget, you need to close your eyes. Please, please tell me you will close your eyes.'' His mother's voice sounded desperate, shaking his shoulders._

_''You have to feel what is right, Jaehyo. Even in the dark. Only trust those who close their eyes, Jaehyo.'' The voice shouted at him._

_Jaehyo clenched his eyes together even harder, desperate to keep out all of the light. His body was hurting and the beast inside him was violently rejecting the hands on his shoulder. 'Is this what dying feels like?' He moaned loudly, feeling the hand disappear and the beast taking control._

 

''Jaehyo?'' The hands on his shoulders felt warm, and strangely more comforting than those of his own mother. Like pulling off a Band-Aid, he decided if it would be best if he worked fast and just got it over with. In one instant he spread his eyes wide open. The sunlight pinched his eyes, while his mind tried to form a picture in his head. 

In front of him was a dark haired boy with round glasses, looking at him slightly concerned but remaining silent. Jaehyo felt like that anyone else might have asked him if he was okay but Taeil just looked at him with those silent and wise eyes and kept his grip firm on his drenched with sweat shoulder. And Jaehyo was thankful for that, he didn't feel like discussing whatever it was that just happened, while he could barely comprehend it himself. He could hear voices murmuring in the distance but he couldn't make out any words. He saw Kyung and Zico sitting in the far end of the room, heads close together while Zico's mouth moved quickly up and down. Sighing he sat up, feeling slightly nauseated when he looked outside the window and saw the world flashing past him. 

''How long has that been going on for?'' 

Standing up from his crouching position, Taeil joined Jaehyo on the ugly neon purple couch he was now sitting on. 

''A few hours, I'm not sure. They were already talking when I came in here.'' Taeil shrugged. 

''Interesting.'' Jaehyo replied slightly annoyed. If Zico was giving out advice, he would like to be included. Taeil didn't reply, but Jaehyo could see his eyes narrowing just a fraction while they both stared at the two men in the back of the room. Feeling the weight of the two boys sending daggers across the room, was enough for Zico to awkwardly announce 'Okay!'. Pushing Kyung towards the two boys, the smaller boy joined them on the couch while Zico stood in front of them next to a over the top large TV screen. 

''So.. now that everyone is awake, I think it's time we discuss the other tributes.'' Zico began, authority and leadership wiring through his voice though Jaehyo could tell by the way he nervously tapped his foot, that he had no experience with this. Did that mean he just send the other tributes before him to their deathbed without even trying to help them? And if that was the case, could he trust anything that came out of his mouth? And what made it different this year?  Deciding that he did not have that much chose, he strained his ears and watched the older man speak. 

''So as you know, every year it's a mix of boy tributes and female tributes. It is decided by 'lottery -'' The way Zico said lottery made sure he did not believe that himself ''- and this year we have 7 districts with male tributes and 5 with female tributes.''

''So let's begin with you guys. You will be representing district 12 as Block B, of course only one of you can win so this team shit is complete bullcrap, but we all know that there are certain teams that always stick together.''

It was true, district 12 was furthest away from the capitol and thus poorest and least popular. Kids in district 12 had a hard enough time keeping themselves alive than to train for the games. But it wasn't that way for all the districts, especially those closest to the capital. They often entered the arena as trained killers and went together in teams to attack the weaker districts before killing off each other. And district 12 was always first on their hitlist.

''Next we have have a girl team for district 11, AOA. They have this girl called Jimin who is apparently ruthless and has a way with knives so you might want to watch out for her. District 10 is a boy group called Boys Republic. Not expecting much of them to be honest.'' Zico continued, effortless dismissing people's lives as if he was talking about something small and irrelevant. Jaehyo clenched his fist together, but decided it was best not to disturb the stream of information that was rolling out of the blonde haired man's mouth. 

''Then we have district 9, another boy group: SHINee. They have this one athletic boy who apparently has won all of these sport trophies when he was in high school. District 9 is generally pretty decent, so if you want to make allies, he could be a wise choice. I think his name was Minho or something.'' Jaehyo repeated the name a few times in his head, district 9 and district 12 had this unspoken alliance, they never killed each other.He did not know the exact reason but it had been that way as long as he can remember. If he had to work together with another district, Minho might be perfect for him. 

''District 8 is a girls group called Mamamoo, they seem pretty close and I don't think they are going to be interesting in working together. District 7 has pretty young tributes, they are called BTS. District 7 usually sucks but they seemed pretty confident from what I've seen, so I'm curious to see how that will work out. Next we have district 6, Red Velvet. They are dead meat so don't e-''

''Can you at least try to sound like you give a damn about their lives?" Jaehyo blurted out, knuckles white from clenching his hands together with great force.

''Oh, I'm sorry? Have I upset your fragile little feelings?'' Zico immediately retorted back, crossing his arms over his chest. 

''You know, this might be just a little game to you, but we're talking about actual people here! They have feelings, and memories and people that are waiting on their return back home! And so do we!''

''Yeah, well last time I checked, you are the only person on this train by choice.'' His mentor snorted out a humorless laugh. 

''Fuck you'' Jaehyo tried to stand up but Taeil grabbed on to his sweater and pulled him back down. 

''Well if you're done throwing your little tantrum I would like to continue.'' Jaehyo had to grit his teeth to not stand up and punch Zico square in the face, but he decided it was best to just let it go.Besides Taeil was still holding on to his sweater, his small hand clutching the material.  ''District 5 is called EXO-K, they are made up by volunteers, as per usual. They are deadly and already have the biggest fan base. They have of course already made an alliance with district 1: Super Junior, and their main focus will of course be EXO-M'' 

District 5 and district 3 used to be one huge district before EXO-M began an uprising. They wanted to be independent and because the capitol feared another situation like what happened with district 13, they decided it was best to grant them their independence from EXO-K. Nobody knew exactly what happened, especially since the capitol controls any form of media, but now the district were separate. Since that day both of the districts ignored each others existence, expect for the games where EXO-K went after EXO-M, with the help with one of the biggest districts out there, Super Junior. 

''District 4 is a girl group called After School, they know how to play with the audience and already have a lot of sponsors. District 3 is of course, EXO-M. They will be sending a boy group this year and there is one tribute who apparently is trained in martial arts, so you have to be on your guard with them. District 2 is a girl group called Girls Generation, district 2 and 1 are huge districts and since they are so close to the capitol they won't be short in sponsors so you better watch out for them too.''

''And then we have district 1, Super Junior, another team made up with volunteers. They are not to be trusted, and if you have even a little bit of common sense you will avoid them under any circumstances.''  

''S-So what do you suggest? Do we make an alliance?'' Taeil asked, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. 

Zico sat down on the couch in front of them. ''Alliances only work if you can trust the other person fully, you need to rely on the fact that they will not smother you in your sleep so if you were to work together with someone else, it would be wise to make sure you aren't dealing with a trained serial killer. Also you need to make sure you can rely on the other persons strength, avoid the weaker ones, they will be death anyway so it's better to just focus on the strong ones.''

''You didn't.'' Jaehyo shot back.

For a moment Zico just looked at him. His face was completely void of any emotion but his eyes burned with an emotion Jaehyo was not familiar with. Eventually the fire died out and he casually moved his arms behind his head and rested his back against the railing of the couch. 

''No, I didn't. And yet I am the only here to tell the story.'' He chuckled. ''Anyway, if you are going to make an alliance I would suggest you do it with someone stronger than you. Your skills will be clear soon when you enter the training room, and if you want to carry the weight of seeing your weak team members be slaughtered one by one, be my guest.'' 

The warning was clear in his voice, after all he knew what it was like. His eyes were glued to Jaehyo the entire time, looking at him so intensely, trying to communicate something more than what he was saying, and Jaehyo didn't know why this was directed at him.. He looked back at Zico, bravely staring the younger but far more intimidating boy in the eye before Kyung spoke up next to him:

''I want to work alone.'' 

Taeil audibly took in a sharp breath, and Jaehyo just looked at him stunned. Why would Kyung want to work alone? He didn't look that strong but did he think Jaehyo and Taeil were even weaker than him? Were they the dead weight in his eyes? Taeil was still holding onto his sweater, tugging at it lightly.

''But we will work together, right Jaehyo?'' The fear was evident in his voice and for a moment Jaehyo wanted to reject him. If he wanted to return home it would be best to trust Zico and work together with someone stronger than him. And looking at the older boy, with his black hair and round glasses, he was pretty sure he wasn't. 'What would Minhyuk do?'. It was the only thought flowing through his head that seemed to give him some clarity. Minhyuk would never abandon Taeil. Even back home he would rather not eat days than to let one of the younger homeless orphans starve. 

''Y-Yeah'' He breathed out and Taeil smiled at him, clearly relieved.

He heard Zico snicker and when he looked at him he was still shaking his head. And Jaehyo prayed he didn't just sign his death sentence.


	5. 4

They arrived at a 12 floor high building in the middle of the capitol. The building was illuminated with blue lights which shined upon the heads of the crowd which had gathered in front of the door. Photographers, journalist and people Jaehyo could only identify as fans were buzzing with sound and giving Jaehyo an headache. Fortunately Zico managed to slip them inside while the crowd was busy fawning over 3 extraordinary good looking boys, he later came to know as EXO-K. 

To his displeasure he found out that every district had their own floor, and because they were district 12 they had the penthouse. He had never like heights, there was no particular reason for it but ever since he was a little boy he hadn't liked to climb trees or play at the top of the old oak hill at the end of town. Jaehyo found comfort in the feeling of having both his feet steady of the ground, to have no fear of falling and crashing down. 

Jaehyo swallowed a sigh and crammed himself in the elevator next to Taeil. After they had discussed every tribute (or better said;  the ones who mattered according to Zico) he had been handed a device that where he could look at the face of every tribute and read some of their background. Of course all three boys had first looked at their own description, which had been considerably shorter than those of the other districts. Jaehyo's information just stated his name, height, weight and district. Furthermore there was a short story describing their lives before the reaping. The only thing that stood out was the word: orphan. It was the first thing that cached Jaehyo's eyes, and he spend the rest of the journey wondering why on earth it would matter to the other tributes that his parents were dead. 

After they had left the elevator,  their three 'personal servants' slipped past them to open the door for them and bowed down 90 degrees in front of them. Something that seemed to make them all, with the exception of Zico, uncomfortable. They were not used to this in district 12 were the motto was literally: ''Not all equal, but all of equal worth''. Something Minhyuk and Jaehyo would bitterly laugh about when their stomachs hurt from not eating for a few days. 

They were tired, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. Kyung had trouble standing on his feet and Taeil looked like he might have a breakdown any second. Jaehyo would never admit to it, especially not in front of Zico, but he also  just wanted to crawl in bed and cry himself to sleep. Unfortunately their schedules were not finished just yet, and Zico announced that their personal coach was waiting in their rooms. 

''I thought you were our coach?'' Jaehyo questioned. 

''I am, but do you think I have the  _time_ '' the way he said time sounded more like  _desire_  "to take care of your personal coaching too?''

Zico raised an eyebrow at Jaehyo from where he was sitting on the couch. Legs thrown onto the coffee table, arms crossed and his face in that permanent scowl, he was the picture of arrogance. Tired, frustrated and annoyed Jaehyo pushed past his servant who was yet again holding the door open for him, to meet his coach.

It was everything he hadn't been expecting. He figured his personal coach must have been from the capitol, since Zico was the only victor district 12 ever had and it was impossible to think someone from an other district would be allowed to coach him. In the few seconds after the Zico's announcement and the time it took to get to his room, he had already imagined what his coach would look like. A woman in her forty's with nasty long fake nails, a lot of makeup  and a wig which smelled like fabricated perfume that would hurt inside his nostrils. Someone who would touch him inappropriately and wouldn't listen to any of his wishes. Yes, someone who would enjoy to coach someone into a death sentences, would be an awful person for sure, he figured. To his surprise a tall man with bright red hair neatly styled with gel sat on his bed. His smile was bigger than Ukwon's and outlined by lips colored in red lipstick which matched his hair.

''You must be Jaehyo!'' He happily announced in the lowest voice Jaehyo had ever heard. He pushed himself off of the bed and excitedly clapped his hands. He was even taller than he looked spread out on his bed as he walked towards Jaehyo, and if his mannerism hadn't been so childish Jaehyo would probably have felt intimidated. 

Without touching him the man walked around Jaehyo, eyes covering every piece of him without lingering while he murmured: ''not bad... not bad at all.. hmmm yes.. I could work with this.''

When he finished his round he stood in front of Jaehyo, leaning forward, face close to his while dark eyes decorated with black subtle eyeliner took him in. The red haired man raised his left hand to touch his face but stopped mid air, dropping his hand he leaned back. 

''Oh how rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself! My name is P.O., well that's how everyone calls me, but I want you to call me by my real name: Jihoon.''

Flabbergasted, and not knowing how to act in front of someone from the capitol, Jaehyo didn't move a muscle and stared at Jihoon with distrust but also a faint intriguement. His personal coach had not touched him without his permission, something he was grateful of for he didn't liked to be touch. Only when he allowed someone to and only on his terms, for example when he let Minhyuk hold him in his arms after his parents died. 

Jaehyo must have been silent for too long, because Jihoon decided to clear his throat and continued:

''So I'm going to be helping you these few days with everything concerning your personal strategy. Zico told me you already made an alliance with another Block B member?''

Simultaneously to his talking, Jihoon had guided them both to the couch that stood on the other side of his ridiculously large room. Elegantly the red haired man crossed his legs and showed off his expensive looking designer shoes. The more Jaehyo looked at him the more he saw that his personal coach was indeed from the capitol. The red hair and lipstick were obvious and not something you could miss but if you looked closely you could see black eyeliner that outlined his eyes, the golden rings on his fingers and a tattoo of a sign that Jaehyo did not recognize, peeking out from under his loose black t-shirt. And he knew he should be wary of this man, but he was tired and Jihoon's low voice was soothing and seemed to give him some comfort, so he decided just to nod and answer the questions that were directed at him. 

''Taeil'' Jaehyo tiredly muttered back. 

Jihoon just nodded and smiled, but the look in his eyes was too serious and Jaehyo could feel his disagreement with Jaehyo's decision to form an alliance with Taeil. 

''I th-...'' Jihoon bit back the last word and restarted his sentence: ''Are you sure that is the best alliance you can form?'' 

Annoyance sparked inside of Jaehyo:

''What do you mean?''  

''Well.. You know his  _inq_ results weren't.. well, his physical final result was rated.. weak'' He almost muttered the last word.

The 'Inq' was short for inquisition and an examination every district citizen had to take every two year. Originally it was to seek out any rebels against the Capitol but since the start of the games it was used to determine the strength of a person, and most of all, the gain the Capitol could have because of you. There were several tests based on intelligence, strength and devotion to the capitol which could result in: weak, average, good and excellent. An excellent on all these fields could land you a high inn job like peacekeeper. But it was also used to determine if someone had a slight chance of winning the games, most of the victors had been excellent so it was unlikely Taeil would win with 'weak' as his rating. Not that Jaehyo himself had much chance with an average and good on his record. 

''Taeil isn't weak! He just..'' Jaehyo wanted to tell Jihoon about the unfairness of his statement. That if perhaps Taeil had had proper nutrition as child he may have been taller and stronger, and how you didn't need to be strong to win the games. Also he wondered if Jihoon would have scored any better if he had been a district citizen, but he remembered his position and bit on his tongue. He felt slightly nervous when he looked up to see the expression on Jihoon's face, but he didn't seem angry at all but looked at Jaehyo with an expression didn't understand. 

''We can discuss it another time. Tomorrow afternoon is your first training day with the other tributes and I personally think..''

Jihoon continued to talk about all the things Jaehyo shouldn't forget and the strategy he should use to intimidate the other tributes, but Jaehyo had a though time keeping his eyes open. Jihoon's words slowly formed into low murmurs that sounded further and further away in Jaehyo's mind and soon he fell asleep. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaehyo woke up on his bed on a soft surface. He was still in the clothing he had been wearing on the day of the reaping, and the smell reminded him of home, and of Minhyuk. He hid his face further in his jacket and found comfort in the familiar smell and for a moment everything seemed okay. But nice things simply don't last very long. Sighing he pushed himself of the bed. Jihoon must have carried him to bed and when his naked feet touched the cold surface, he realized he must have taken off his shoes too. If he wasn't so tired and sleep drunken he would probably have felt more grateful, but for now he just needed to find the bathroom as soon as possible. 

Not knowing where the light button was he just stumbled trough his dark room to the door where light was shining underneath. Half sleep walking he hobbled to the what he presumed to be living room when he heard voices silently shouting at each other. Curious he pushed his ear against the wood and listened closely.

''.. this wasn't the deal, Jiho!'' The low husky voice was unmistakably Jihoon. 'What deal?' Jaehyo's heart pumped faster in his chest. 

''..how ..I have...not my fault'' Zico was further away and almost inaudible.

''It's not safe! Perhaps it's best if we....'' Jihoon barely whispered

Suddenly he heard loud footsteps and for a moment he feared he was going to be caught but then he heard a loud noise and the walls next to his door faintly trembling. The breathing was hard and fast. They were right beside his door and Jaehyo held in his breath. 

''I'll kill you!'' Zico threatened in a whisper. 

''Jiho'' Jihoon's voice was calm but his voiced was laced with a underlying fear. 

''Don't close your eyes, Jihoon.''

 

It was silent for a moment before he could hear footsteps retreating and a door slamming close. After a heavy sigh he heard Jihoon leave too and after he had heard a door softly being shut, Jaehyo let himself slide down against the floor. His felt nauseated and tears stung in his eyes, leaning his head back he let his tears flow freely over his cheeks. How could Jiho possibly recite the exact same words his mother had told him in his dream?


	6. 5

Jaehyo awoke with a stiff neck. His head was still against the wooden door of his bedroom and the room was getting artificially lightened with ‘’soft sunlight’’ to make up for the windowless room. He looked at the clock on the wall. 4.57 am. Groaning loudly he stood up and waddled back to his bed to get a few more minutes of comfort before his door was thrown open.

‘’Rise and shine!’’

Jaehyo moaned into his pillow and tried his hardest to ignore the low pitched chuckle behind him.  Jihoon seemed to have forgotten the previous night completely and Jaehyo pushed back every thought of asking him about it.  Jihoon was not to be trusted, and neither was Zico. He didn’t even knew who to trust anymore, Taeil could turn out to be  turned out to be some elite serial killer and it wouldn’t surprise him anymore.

Jaehyo could hear footsteps near him and before he had the change to pull the covers over his head a hand had grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. Panic flooded over Jaehyo and he immediately pulled back his arm roughly.

‘’Keep your goddamn hands off of me!’’

Jihoon froze and his fingers were struck in mid air He mumbled a quiet ‘’sorry’’ while Jaehyo tried his hardest to repress the blush that was threating to decorate his face. He sat up and kept his eyes on the golden silken bedsheet. Jihoon decided it was best to not bring it up again and forced the same wide smile on his face, showing off his pink gum.

‘’We have a lot to discuss before you’re meeting the other tributes at 9 am, the rest is already at the breakfast table and unless you want Zico to come in here with a bucket of cold water I would suggest it’s best to just get out of bed.’’

Jaehyo just nodded and slipped out from under the golden cover, glad to see Jihoon leave the room so he could have a chance to change into the grey outfit that was waiting for him over his chair. It fit like a glove (of course) and the material was nicer than anything Jaehyo had ever owned before. It hugged his body perfectly but did not restrict his movement. He pulled his hair in a bun and briefly passed the mirror. He looked strange, yesterday in the train he had taken an intensive bath where he had scrubbed his skin so roughly until it turned pink. His nails had been clipped by one of his personal assistants and even his eyebrows plucked. His skin felt softer and healthier looking because of some product they had smeared on his skin, and his hair was cut (only the dead ends because one millimeter more and Jaehyo would have protested). And now, standing in front of that mirror he almost looked like he belonged here, like a citizen of the capitol, and he couldn’t bear to  look at his reflection in the mirror for longer than a few seconds. He wondered what Minhyuk would think of him when he saw him on TV for the interviews tomorrow, no more dirt on his face or filth under his nails but fancily dressed with loads of make-up and a fake smile plastered on his face. Minhyuk would be disgusted.

Taking as much time as possible he possibly could he dragged himself towards the living room he joined the rest at the breakfast table. Zico looked awful, dirty blond locks hanging over his eyes and skin grimmer and paler without his usual make up. Jihoon’s bright red hair reflected in the sunlight and hurt his eyes, Kyung looked tired and his eyes were still slightly red. Taeil was the only one who seemed unconcerned with the happenings of the previous night and hummed lowly while he smeared strawberry jam onto his toast. Jaehyo remember Taeil telling him he liked to sing and he reminded himself to ask Taeil to sing for him before.. you know.

There were two more people occupying the breakfast table and Jaehyo assumed they were the coaches of the other two boys. A young lady with a bright smile and pretty face sat next to Taeil and asked Jaehyo to pass him the sugar, next to Kyung was an old man with a stern look and scar on his left cheek; he was thin, tall and dressed in a black suit. His thin bony fingers grabbed onto a coffee mug and he hadn’t looked up when Jaehyo had taken his seat. Both of them failed to introduce themselves and Jaehyo assumed they were the other personal coaches by the way they kept glancing at their own tributes.

 

Breakfast ended in complete silence and all the tributes went to their own rooms with their coaches to discuss the upcoming event: training. The training afternoon was in a way completely useless to the tributes, you can’t become an expert on how to shoot a gun or the best way to wrestle someone to the ground in less than a day. The only reason to even have a training day was to give the tributes a chance to see each other’s strength before entering the arena.  If you were to form an alliance with another tribute, this was your chance to do it. It was also a great opportunity to seek out potential opponents or to create a hit list.

Jaehyo’s strategy was simple. Focus on the induvial training and seek out tributes to form an alliance with. Also, as Jihoon tried his best to formulate as nice as possible:  “Just… uh.. focus on yourself and I mean… if you  _have_  to it’s okay to.. well… break an alliance previously made.’’ Or in other words: try a way to ditch Taeil.

And before they knew it, it was time to go and the three boys stepped outside. Taeil’s coach gave him a reassuring pat on the back and Kyung’s coach grabbed the back of his thin neck rather tightly so that Kyung turned a little red after a few seconds. Jihoon kept his distance from Jaehyo, not forgotten about this morning, but encouraged Jaehyo in his low voice. Zico failed to show up, and they were on their way. Travelling down to the basement of the complex in their very own ‘’district 12’’ elevator, they entered the facility. Most of the other tributes were already there and looked at them with curiosity. Next to them another elevator opened it doors and 3 girls stepped out. They didn’t give a glance to any of the other tributes and immediately went to one of the training areas, inspiring the others to do so too.  Hesitantly Jaehyo stepped forward while the other two remained behind him and he could feel the fingertips of Taeil’s small hands barely stroking his grey pullover.

He remembered Jihoon’s words: ‘’try to act confident’’ and walked over to the information area. Of course there was no telling what kind of arena they would end up in, but it wouldn’t hurt to know some of the basics of surviving. Most of the times the arenas contained woods and at least some kind of water source since it was no fun to watch tributes die of dehydration instead of chopping each other in pieces and skinning each other alive, right?

He sat next to a black haired boy who matched Jaehyo’s height. He was busying himself with knot tying and of course Jaehyo knew who he was. Choi Minho of district 9. He and Jihoon had busied themselves with watching every reaping tape this morning and Minho had immediately captured Jaehyo’s eye. A boy of only 15 years old had been reaped and broken down on stage, tears mingling with his long brown bangs and instead of ignoring like most tributes would, or even worse bursting out in tears too, Minho had thrown an arm around the boy and did the same with the next boy who was called, keeping them both standing tall.

Minho looked up and smiled:

‘’Hey, you’re Jaehyo right?’’

Jaehyo smiled back and nodded and hold out his hand, which Minho took and shook, calling out a ‘’nice to meet you’’ and ‘’my name is Minho’’ before returning his attention on the knot he was tying.

‘’I know who you are, I saw your reaping video, it was very.. memorable.’’

Minho threw back his head and laughed: ‘’That’s rich coming from you! I’m not the one everyone’s been talking about.’’

‘’W-What do you mean?’’

Instead of answering Jaehyo nodded to where most of the other tributes, keeping his eyes solely on his hands. When Jaehyo looked up he could see heads quickly turning away and focusing very hard on the exercise they were doing. Embarrassed Jaehyo looked down.

‘’Didn’t your coach tell you?’’

Jaehyo shook his head and Minho let out a chuckle. ‘’Well, let’s just say you won’t be having trouble finding sponsors. Or allies, for that matter. It was a big hit in the capitol, everyone was so surprised. This had never happened before in one of  _our_ districts, someone just sacri-.. volunteering for a loved one. Let alone someone so beautiful.’’

Jaehyo’s blush increased. ‘’W-Would you-..?’’.

Minho’s face shot up. ‘’Would I what?’’ Something flaring in his eyes which Jaehyo was not familiar with.

‘’Would you.. I mean you said getting allies wouldn’t be a problem so I mean.. what if we-‘’

‘’You want to be allies?’’ Minho said astonished, as if it was the strangest thing he ever heard in his life.

‘’Well.. yes I me-‘’

‘’You did hear the part about me saying it wouldn’t be trouble to find  _any_ allies. I mean literally anyone’’

Jaehyo nodded, sure about his decision and for a moment Minho was silent before smiling broadly at Jaehyo.

‘’Fine, on one condition, Taemin joins too.’’

Jaehyo held out his hand once again ‘’Same goes for Taeil.’’

Minho smiled again and gripped Jaehyo’s hand, before they heard a loud ‘’tsk’’ and saw a girl with small fingers playing with long sharp knives walking away, joining a large group in the left corner.

‘’Ignore them, they were hope you’d join them so I’m afraid you might have made an enemy.’’ Minho chuckled while scratching the back of head.

‘’Them?’’

‘’EXO-K, and their flock of trained killers of course.  They have already joined with Super Junior, of course, and two girls from Girl’s Generation have joined too. Oh and of course Jimin, the girl with the knives who scolded us just then.’’

‘’Why would they want me to join though? I’m not strong nor do I have any ex-‘’

‘’You’re popular Jaehyo, more than you seem to realize.’’ Minho interrupted him.

‘’Oh right.’’ Jaehyo mumbled, looking at the ground. This was all too strange; he had never been popular back in district 12. At school he just hung out with Minhyuk, and Ukwon joined them after some time too even though he was way higher off than two poor orphans. Everybody just ignored them, some even seemed scared of them even. So this was going to be some getting used to.

‘’So should we get some other assets too? We’re largely outnumbered by the other group so it might be smart.’’

Jaehyo thought about it hesitantly. He didn’t trust people, he didn’t even trust Minho, or Taeil for that matter. He trusted them just enough to rely on the fact that they will probably not murder them in his sleep. But then again Minho had a point; the 4 of them could never face EXO-K together.

‘’What about EXO-M?’’

‘’What makes you think we would even want to join your little tea club?’’ 


	7. 6

_’What makes you think we would even want to join your little tea club?’’_

Jaehyo looked behind him to see three boys staring down at them. The one in the front was thin but well build, ash blonde hair covered his forehead and a machete rested on his back. Tao, Jaehyo remembered, the only volunteer of district 3. Behind Tao were two other boys who were standing slightly in Tao's shadow and far less intimidating. Chen, the one the left, looked rather nervous, not sure how to compose himself and a nervous smile twitched in the corners of his mouth. The boy on the right whose name Jaehyo couldn't quite remember seemed to barely be aware of where he was, he was staring off into the distance, completely in his own world as he faintly smiled. 

''Well for starters, if you don't want to be ambushed by that..'' Minho cocked his head towards the group in the corner who where watching them every move ''-it would be wise to make some  _friends_ ''.

''That doesn't mean we have to gang up with Mr. Flaming Charisma and pretty boy over here.'' Tao snapped back causing Chen to mutter his name warningly from behind. Minho's eyebrows shoot up slightly but he quickly regained his composure and returned his attention to the knot he was still tying. 

'''Sorry to be the one to tell you this,  _mate_ , but it seems your option's are running out.'' 

Minho didn't have to nod again to tell them what he was talking about. Their opponent group seemed even bigger than before, only leaving the tight knit girl group of District 8 were practicing far away from the rest. The rest was either training personally or shooting looks at both of the alliances, wondering if they should join one too. Tao shot one last defeated look at the EXO-K alliance and sighed. 

''Okay fine, we're in. Who else?''

''Taemin and -'' Minho started before Jaehyo interrupted him: ''And Taeil.'' 

Tao threw them both an annoyed look but didn't object.

''Who else?''

''T-That was it.'' Jaehyo stuttered. 

''Not enough. Look..'' Tao crouched down and Chen immediately followed. Continuing his speech in a more hushed voice he grabbed the black haired boy who was still staring in the distance down to the ground. ''- EXO-K and Super Junior is already 6 trained killers. Plus the one girl from Girl's generation makes 7 and Jimin makes 8. We are not even higher in numbers and the trio from EXO-K counts for two, trust me. We need some ace's.''

''Who are you suggesting?" Jaehyo spoke up, not really comfortable with the idea of adding anyone to their group. To be honest he didn't even trust Tao that much, he didn't even really trust Minho or Taeil, let alone some stranger he didn't even had time to observe. 

''Sunny is talented. And she knows Taeyeon from Girl's generation well, we could use that to our advantage.'' 

''Are you sure that's such a good idea?'' Minho murmured thoughtfully ''Who says that she won't just betray us and join them later instead?'' 

''No look!'' Tao responded with fire in his eyes and whispered something that sounded a lot like: 'you idiot'. ''Don't you think they have tried to get her to join them? It didn't work out and she decided to try it on her own.''

''So they wouldn't let her join? She wasn't good enough?'' Jaehyo questioned, frowning slightly. He already had to look out for Taeil as long as he could, having another team member who couldn't take care of themselves was just distracting.

''Not quite, she rejected them actually. Said she didn't want to kill or something, I don't know.'' Tao shrugged. 

'Didn't want to kill' the words echoed in Jaehyo's mind. He had thought of every possible way he was going to get killed but never had he considered that he might actually have to kill himself. Could he? He desperately wanted to comfort himself. Of course he couldn't. He wasn't capable of such a deed. He repeated the words in his mind and wondered how long he had to tell himself this before he would actually believe it himself too. 

Still, it was comforting to have someone around who promised not to murder, even if keeping your word meant nothing in the arena. 

''Okay, she's in.'' Jaehyo spoke determinedly and Minho hummed in agreement.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few days were exhausting. After their meeting he had sought out Taeil, who was keeping himself busy in the survival section. On this computer screen he could see images of fish and other sea animals, and he had to decide whether they were edible, poisonous and/or dangerous. It wasn't a completely useless game, after all no one knew what kind of Arena they would be battling in. Jaehyo just wondered how a boy who had probably never seen a real life fish was able to recognize them all. Taeil explained, with a twinkle in his eye, how his father had given him an encyclopedia about the sea when he was younger, and Jaehyo had to swallow back a lump in his throat when he thought about his friend's inevitable death. 

Of course Taeil had no objections to the alliance, not that Jaehyo had considered his thoughts in the first place but still. That next morning the group got together under the leadership of none other than Tao himself. Sunny joined. Another very young girl, barely 16, joined too. She showed up one morning when they were having their daily morning meeting (also known as Tao yelling at everyone how they were going to die if they didn't train harder), and quietly whispered ''hi''. Her stylist had dyed the lower half of her hair green, her eyes were big. She was petite but surprisingly strong, they had found out when Tao had insisted she showed some of her skill before joining. She mastered the bow and arrow, and could hit her target from meters away. 

Jaehyo ran a lot on the tracking lane, sometimes alone, sometimes a lanky boy with 'M' shaped hair would join him. They didn't talk but the EXO-K member did throw a water bottle towards him once, when he was sure no one was looking. 

He was also surprisingly good at wrestling. On the third day Tao had dared anyone to defeat him in any field (not considering Taeil's fish game) and Jaehyo and Minho were the only one who accepted. Mainly to shut him up, partly because of their own pride. Minho lost in weight lifting, though he insisted that he could jump higher than Tao who was smart enough not to take him up on that offer. 

But when Tao had called him to the wrestling matt, Jaehyo had him down on the floor within minutes under the eye of almost every contestant. The bigger guy from Super Junior had whispered something to his teammates which made some grin while some paled. Jaehyo decided that he didn't even want to know. Tao had cursed under his breath, and insisted that Jaehyo was lucky that they were in the same team.

Kyung practiced alone and both Taeil and Jaehyo didn't exchange anything with him. Jaehyo saw him laugh that stupid grin one time, after had managed to hit his target 10 times in a row, and Jaehyo suppressed the urge to talk to him. He knew it was childish but he felt betrayed by Kyung. He had absolutely no claim on that emotion, not in this game,  but district 12 always stuck together, they always fought together and they always died together. Always. Kyung had broken that silent treaty and left Jaehyo alone to fend for himself, and for Taeil. But that wasn't all, Zico and Kyung were getting closer and closer by the day. After a long day of training, Zico seemed to be almost waiting for Kyung, whilst Jaehyo just watched annoyed as the small blonde haired boy discussed his day with their leader, got pointers on how to win and sat closely whispering about affairs Jaehyo couldn't catch. 

When this happened, Jaehyo just dragged Taeil to his room. They had grown more close these days, even though Jaehyo always kept some distance. He couldn't help but be fond of Taeil. Taeil was wise, wiser than he got credit for. At first Jaehyo hadn't noticed and written Taeil off as quiet, but that wasn't it. Under those round glasses, his eyes observed everything. He was cautious, smart. He didn't have expectations, he rarely did something unpredictable and he could drift off in his own mind. He also had a temper, Jaehyo had learned that the hard way when he had snickered when Taeil couldn't reach the top cabinet minutes after the older man had woken up. 

Perhaps Jaehyo was attracted to Taeil's personality because it was so different than his own. He always seemed to speak before he thought, he could build up this child like excitement and expectation over the smallest thing which it could also be destroyed with a one words. He needed the confirmation, even if it was just from Taeil or his best friend at home. Taeil didn't even flinch when EXO-K made fun of him, didn't care when Zico shot him disappointed looks, and just glared when Tao got on his case. 

One evening Jaehyo was lying on his bed while Taeil sat besides him. 

''Are you scared?'' 

''Of what?'' Jaehyo had answered as ignorant as he managed to muster. 

Taeil had sighed, a little annoyed, and fallen back onto the golden cover of Jaehyo's bed. 

''Death.''

Jaehyo had thought about it for a while. Was he scared of death? He was scared of many things that surrounded death, the pain, the loss, the grief. But death itself?

''No.'' Jaehyo had answered and Taeil stayed silent. ''Are you?''

Taeil hadn't answered for a long time, and just when Jaehyo was starting to believe the other boy had fallen asleep, he had heard Taeil's voice whisper:

''I'm scared to die alone.'' 

Jaehyo had wanted to answer that he would be with Taeil, that he wouldn't leave his side when that happened, but he couldn't promise that so he had decided to change the subject:

''Are you going to kill?'' His whisper replied.

Taeil had shrugged. ''If I have to.'' 

And Jaehyo had hummed, silently agreeing.


	8. Chapter 7

Training was bad. The interviews were worse. At night it seemed to be the only thing Jaehyo could concentrate on, images of embarrassing situations flashed before his eyes, each more frightening than the last. After all, Zico had mentioned the importance of the interviews. If you wanted to get sponsors, this was the chance to  leave a remaining impression. This had never been Jaehyo's specialty (as his loving coach had also thoughtfully pointed out). So when the morning finally did come he laid flat down on his stomach groaning quietly into his pillow with bags under his eyes,no clue what he was going to say that night. 

''Jaehyo'' A low voice murmured, stretching out his name and Jaehyo could almost jear the smile in his words as his personal trainer's eyes took him in. 

Jaehyo groaned louder into his golden sheets, barely resisting the childish urge to pull a pillow over his head to mute the chuckling from behind. 

''Come on get up. We need to get ready.'' 

Jaehyo's nose scrunched up in annoyance. He knew for a fact that it was still very early in the morning, had he not spend the entire night sitting by his window watching the Capitol people party below? Men, woman and everything in between dancing in bright violent colours until their legs gave out was not something he would easily forget. The sun had not set, the interviews weren't until tonight, so all of this was highly unfair. 

But then again he had long accepted the fact that his life was, matter of fact, not in his hands. So when the Capitol told you to get up, you got up. And when the Capitol told you to die, you were 3 feet under the ground already. As simple as that.  Besides he had grown to like his childlike mentor enough to not wanting to disappoint him, so in an excruciatingly low pace he pushed himself up. 

The light reflecting off of the golden sheets and P.O.'s red hair hurt his eyes so not all voluntarily he glared at P.O.. The tall man couldn't seem bothered by this and clapped his hands excitedly like he'd done when they first met. Jaehyo vaguely registered to shadows standing behind P.O. 

''We're going to make you shine!'' 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently ''shining'' did not involve body hair. He moaned loudly when they the long haired woman with skin like green scale's pulled another sheet with wax off of his leg. Tears set in his eyes when the chubby male was busying himself pulling out Jaehyo's armpit hairs with a pincette. Overall it was not a very pleasurable experience and Jaehyo was glad they left certain parts of his body untouched. 

''Almost done'' The woman shrieked in a high voice that seemed artificially edited. His annoyance sparked when he felt the the first hairs of his lower leg being pulled out and he thought it best just to close his eyes and think of home. Even though the worst part was yet to come, he could feel a warm liquid being poured over his body and soon fingers were dipping into his skin, rubbing the substance into his pores and Jaehyo could feel himself get nauseous. He hated it when people touched him, loathed it with a burning passion. Everywhere they stroked his skin seemed to crawl and chills ran up his spine. The parts of his skin that hadn't been touched yet, hurt in anticipation. He bit his lip harder as he tried to block out the the feeling and to think of home. He found out the fingertips where less painful on his skin when he imagined they were Minhyuk's hands. And so he concentrated as hard as he could, with his heart beating in his throat and the sound of his breathing in his ears. It didn't take very long for him to pass out.  

 

When he woke up his skin felt cold against the metal. Sitting himself up he could see he was surrounded by mirrors and a simple desk full of products he did not know the name of. He looked at his naked reflecting in the mirror. He seemed paler than before, as if they had rubbed the years of the sun kissing his skin off of him. It disgusted him, it was as if every part of him had to be destroyed to make him more likable. When the night would come he would be surely unrecognizable. 

The sliding doors opened and he was relieved to see his mentor entering the room, carrying bags with what Jaehyo assumed were his clothes. P.O. dropped the clothes on the desk and turned around on his long legs to look at Jaehyo. His eyes rolled over his body and Jaehyo oddly didn't feel as threatened as he usually did when men had stared at him in the red light district. The stare was not sexual, more like admiring a piece of art. Checking the smoothness of a product. An object. Eyes getting pausing for the slightest moment at his prominent ribcage. 

''You know I-....'' P.O. dropped his voice to a quiet whisper ''I'm terribly sorry about all this.''

Jaehyo squinted his eyes to read into the sincerity of those words but before he could investigate any further his mentor had turned his back to him. Red nails unzipped the clothing bags and showed Jaehyo one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing he had ever seen in his life. 

A golden suit, tailored just to his size. It shimmered brightly and was decorated by embroidery flower and other organic forms. The jacket was long like a cape and ran all the way up to the floor, at the top his collar separated in long peaks. The pants were wide and low at the top but tight at the his lower legs. It was beautiful and Jaehyo couldn't take his eyes off of it. 

''You uhm... I thought you liked the colour of your bedsheets..so'' P.O. grinned at him sheepishly. 

Jaehyo simply nodded and that was enough encouragement for the other man to get close to him. He laid the clothes next to the naked man and swiftly to the door where he paused. He seemed to debating turning around but twisted his head to looked behind at the makeup table and walked out the door. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaehyo tapped his black expensive shoe on the floor as he waited in the waiting room with his other members. His hair was pushed up to the side, eyes decorated with brown eye shadow and his golden suit suited him neatly. Of course he was already messing up his carefully chosen lipstick, by pulling at the thin skin with his nails. Never in his entire life had he been this nervous and the boys besides him weren't any better. 

Taeil looked like he was about to puke and looked funny in his black outfit with white figures that seemed to stem out of the old days. The bubbly woman that was his coach had insisted on taking off his glasses resulting in Taeil squinting at the television for most of the night. Kyung was dressed simple and sat visibly further away from the other boys, only ever making conversing with Zico who was barely out of Jaehyo's hearing. 

Of course since they were the 12th district they had to wait the longest, and counting his luck he was last. Which meant that he had to watch the other interviews while his own nerves ate away inside of him. He caught himself thinking back to the good old times when district 13 was after them and all the eyes wouldn't be on him. 

Taeil spend the time badly imitating Kyung's old mentor, who was sitting in his chair half asleep with a stern look on his face and Jaehyo had just let out a giggle when the lights around them dimmed. Watching the games and everything else surrounding it was mandatory, everywhere in the districts were showings and in every house there was a hologram to show cast this all. Even in their little shed and Jaehyo felt like there was glass in his stomach when he thought about Minhyuk watching at home, all by himself. Perhaps Ukwon had invited him over so that they could watch it together, then again perhaps not, Ukwon's family weren't the biggest fans of Minhyuk. 

The screen in front of them and they were greeted with their host of the night.: HEECHUL as the letters on the screened spelled. He had been hosting ever since Jaehyo was so young that he couldn't remember the previous host, or perhaps it was just Heechul's prominent character that blew the other host into history. Whether you liked him or not, he was certainly a figure. Jaehyo did happen to like him, he wasn't cruel, he tried to make the best out of every interview, to show the best in people, Jaehyo admired him in that way. It felt strange that he was going to meet this person that he and Minhyuk had talked about so much as home, or better yet, Jaehyo had talked about to Minhyuk who didn't seem to like him and rolled his eyes when Jaehyo giggled at one of their cheesy jokes. 

Heechul's laugh filled the room and while the screen played some cheesy intro with different facial expressions of Heechul. Every year was the same and Jaehyo oddly found comfort in the familiar template. He could almost ignore the fact that he had to walk up their himself when the first tribute from Super Junior dragged him up on stage. A lanky boy, just seventeen, with a mischievous grin on his face. He displayed his confidence, made jokes with Heechul but kept this secretive demeanor. He decided not to trust the young boy, not purely because he was of district 1. There was something unaccountable about the boy and Jaehyo couldn't put his finger on it.

Of course it was more obvious with the second tribute. He was one of the first well nourished district members Jaehyo had ever seen in his life and once again he was confronted with how different these districts were treated. The closer to the capital, the richer and closer to Capitol citizens and their way of life. He could hardly imagine district 13 once being the president's favourite. 

The man on the tv was arrogant. He trusted in his strength and was positive that he was going to win and since Jaehyo had seen him practicing in the training hall, he could hardly disagree. Still Jaehyo hoped that this person wasn't going to be his death, he was cruel and had the worst temper. He enjoyed seeing the younger, weaker, tributes fail and laughed at their misfortune. And even though Jaehyo knew that he wasn't really his fault, that members of the first districts were almost always like this, that they were raised this way and was going to be a tribute from the day he was born. He still couldn't help but feel a stab of disgust when Shindong flashed his abs to the audience. 

The first two districts seemed to flow by like this. Handsome, good-looking tributes in beautiful colorful outfits spewing about how proud they were to be here. Playing the game exactly how the capitol wanted them to. Of course then came EXO-M and this facade was broken. 

The first EXO-M member was the black haired boy Jaehyo now remembered as Lay. During the training Jaehyo had hung around with Lay on more than one occasion. He never really got the younger boy though, he laughed at strange moments, made irrelevant comments nobody really seemed to catch on to. But he was sweet and gentle, hardly a trade Jaehyo had seen to much off in his lifetime. And hardly something you could use in the arena. 

He waved to the cheering crowd, who were prominently less enthusiastic then they were for the first two districts. EXO-M may be the least popular district after all, well prehaps after district 12. His interview was a disaster. He reacted too late and didn't know answers to the simplest questions. Heechul tried his best to play him off as a dreamy boy, even suggested he might have written poetry in the past. Lay, who didn't realize the favour  Heechul was giving him, firmly denied this stating that he could hardly write properly at all. Taeil giggled next to him but Jaehyo's eyes watered, this boy wouldn't get any sponsors and it was almost inevitable he was going to die. He wondered of he would sign his own death sentence too if he didn't preform tonight. 

Tao was after and he did great. His only fault was hardly disguising his dismay for the capitol. Whenever Heechul would ask him something related to the Capitol Tao couldn't hide his grimace. The audience, who seemed to have taken a liking to him, didn't seem to notice. But Jaehyo did and he certainly knew he wasn't the only one considering the way Zico was laughing behind him whenever Tao shot Heechul a sour look.

The rest of the interviews flew by without many surprises. EXO-K's Sehun threw some badly disguised insults at EXO-M and Jaehyo imagined Tao seething in one of the other rooms. He didn't seem to take criticism too well. Joy did great and got the Capitols favour when she kept on giggling into her green hair. Heechul even went as far to call her cute and she blushed endearingly. BTS also left a remaining impression, especially Namjoon whom even Heechul was surprised by, normally district 7 was not all that impressing. Hwasa, a girl from Mamamoo focused on her friendship with the other two girls and read a poem about ''sisterhood''. They were incredibly close and while the capitol's heart swelled, Jaehyo considered them a threat.

When Minho entered Jaehyo sat up and moved to edge of his seat. In the corner of his eye he saw Taeil do the same. Minho looked good, a rather plain blue jacket with white stripes and matching jeans which seemed to sown to his skin. It was simple, much more so than the rest of the tributes had and Jaehyo wondered if it was a silent message to the capitol. A sign of resistance if you willed, and though Jaehyo thought if that was the case, that it was either incredible brave or astonishing stupid. Nevertheless he was ashamed to admit he felt safe in his flamboyant outfit. 

Not a strike of nervousness on his handsome faced as he laughed and smiled at the audience in an polite manner. He settled in the seat besides Heechul and he almost looked like he belonged there, until he started talking. The usual small talk went by without any unusualness, that was until Heechul mentioned Taemin. 

"I have to admit, although your reaping certainly wasn't the most impressionable, it certainly was unusual. Seeing you standing on stage with those two younger boys, side by side, like brothers if you will! Especially when the youngest, Taemin if I remember well, started crying. I mean I don't know what I would have done!" Heechul laughed and the audience soon followed. Heechul did have an catchy laugh after all. ''Did you know him before the reaping?"

If Heechul had paid more attention to Minho throughout his speech, he ought to have noticed Minho's body language. The smile on his face turned bitter and his body went stark. So to Jaehyo, the curt ''No.'' came as no surpise. Heechul however seemed astound, and his smile faltered for a second before he regained himself:

'''Well... I thought it was very admirable! I mean it must be hard for such a young pers-''

''It's hard for all of us.'' Minho interrupted, his eyes narrowed in dismay and fist slightly shaking. 

The audience had grown completely silent. This wasn't the first time something like this occurred, in all the years the games had held, the thing was that whoever said these things simply didn't last long. And in the district 12 audience room the tension was buzzing through the air. Until the sound of glass shattering broke it. 

"Fucking idiot!" 

Zico had slammed his glass, that was with no doubt filled with hard liquor on the small wooden table next to him and was now cursing words that most of them had never heard before. Blood seemed out of the wound while alcohol entered and Jaehyo knew enough of his fathers practice as a doctor that it this reaction wasn't uncommon. One of the girls tried to mend for his hand but Zico roughly pulled his hand loose and tugged a piece of fabric of off his sweatshirt to wrap around his hand. 

"I think it's time to get ready" a voice whispered in his ear and Jaehyo nodded. Giving one last glance to his coach, who by now had calmed down a little, eyes searching for any last advice before he entered the stage. 

Instead Zico locked his eyes with him, raised his hand an blew him a kiss and Jaehyo couldn't make out if it was meant as an insult or actual advice, before P.O. dragged him out of the room. 


	9. 8

◄◄

  
''You'll be fine" Jaehyo whispered, fingertips dipping in the cold water to refresh the cloth before laying it back onto his forehead. The body heat that was coming off the other boy was enough to keep him sufficiently warm but his heart felt ice cold. Nevertheless he had seen this scene be played out a thousand times before, from the the day he turned 7 and his uncle collapsed on his birthday party. His father had remained perfectly calm and his mother had cleared the table so the man could be laid upon it, not a single sign of fear or quivering limbs to be seen. The uncle survived, as many did under his parent's hands, but now that Jaehyo looked back at it he couldn't help but feel the bitter resentment in his heart. He might as well have died, his conscious certainly did when he left a mere 12 year old Jaehyo with no where to go, pounding on his door in the middle of the night refusing to open up. 

This was not the time to ponder on that memory, not when he could hear the shallow moans of the Minhyuk below him. He wrecked his brain and tried to remember what to do next. Right; removal clothing so that the body can lose heat more easily. 

He moved forward to help sit Minhyuk up who was so weak that Jaehyo had to support him with his body weight. When he had pulled the sweater over his head he gently laid him back down and began tugging at his pants, Minhyuk quietly groaned at the movements. After he removed all items he was he realized he was seeing Minhyuk naked for the first time and even though he tried to tell himself to look away, he could help but let his eyes roll over the body. From the faint dimple in his cheeks, to the valley between those dark nipples, the muscles of his arms, the dark skin that led to even more intimate parts. All of it was a sight to be behold and Jaehyo was startled when a shiver ran through Minhyuk's body. Quickly his teeth released his lower lip which he hadn't noticed he had been biting on and he quickly moved the thin blanket over the body and started to refresh the wet cloth. 

"Jae...'' Minhyuk pinched his eyes together and let out a whine. 

"It's okay I'm here.'' Jaehyo murmured back, his fingers brushing some of the dark strays of hair that loomed over Minhyuk's forehead back.

Minhyuk took a deep breath and shook his head. ''No... y-you can't'' he tried to sit but Jaehyo pushed him back on the bed with his hands. ''This isn't real, i-it's.. no..''. 

'He's delirious' Jaehyo's heart began to beat faster. That wasn't a good sign, laid his fingers over Minhyuk's forehead and the skin felt even warmer then before. 'Liquids, he needs water.'  He quickly began to fill the bottle he had on his bed stand. He moved behind his best friend and lifted him up so that Minhyuk could lay against his chest. He put the bottle to his lips:

''Drink'' 

Minhyuk pressed his lips together to form a straight line, his head stubbornly moving to the side. 

''Come on Hyukie..'' 

''..I-is it po-poisened?'' Minhyuk stuttered tears forming in his eyes as he looked up at Jaehyo. 

''Of course not Minhyuk, don't be foolish, why would I try to poison you?'' Jaehyo smiled, laying a kiss on top of the black hair that tickled his neck.

The tears were streaming freely down his face now, leaving a path in the dirt that had formed there. 

''You would'' Minhyuk sobbed ''You would if you knew...'' He raised his arm to lay his hand over Jaehyo's cheek, thumb stroking over his cheekbone once, before fainting and falling limply against Jaehyo's side. 

 

►►

''Yes.. I did know him. Kind of.'' Jaehyo tried his best to keep the fake smile plastered on his face, though his cheeks started to hurt. The bright hot spotlight was heating his skin and he wondered how he wasn't sweating like a pig. Must have got something to do with the pills that P.O. gave him before he entered the stage. 

"I would've thought so! Judging from the way he reacted he didn't seem too pleased with you though'' Heechul snickered before changing his facial expressions to serious and moving closer to Jaehyo. 

''Now tell me, why did you do it?'' He asked softly. 

Jaehyo froze. He couldn't tell the real reason, not when Minhyuk had tried so hard to hide his weakness. Jaehyo might be the only person on this planet who knew, and that was only because he had taken care of Minhyuk before when he had one of his episodes. Not even Ukwon, their closest friend, knew of his secret though he must have wondered why his older friend was always excused from psychical exercises at school. Luckily for Minhyuk, he wasn't one to pry and he had simply waved at Minhyuk when he had to come to pick up Jaehyo from the tracking field. 

So he shouldn't, couldn't tell the truth:

''I want to bring pride to my district'' Jaehyo easily lied the lines he had studied with P.O. beforehand. ''It is about time district 12 has a victor again.'' He grinned and the crowd went wild. This is what they had been wanting to hear. A tribute who was proud to be part of their games, not a sad story about orphans and sacrifice. Heechul laughed and settled his hand on Jaehyo's shoulder, his eyes twinkling with amusement when they met Jaehyo's. 

"So you're glad to be here then?" Heechul pushed.

"Of course, why would I have volunteered otherwise?"

"Well, I think I'm speaking on behalf of the whole capitol when I say we're happy to have you, right folks?" Jaehyo left ear, which was pointed to the audiences, started to hurt at the high pitched shrieking that came as a reply. 

''And Minhyuk? I'm sure he wasn't too happy about you stealing his spotlight'' Heechul joked after the crowd had calmed down. ''Did he come to see you?"

''Yes'' 

''And?'' 

''He hit me in my face'' Jaehyo laughed and the audience laughed with him, he was surprised how easy this came to him. He would have thought it would be a struggle but he didn't even have to think about what to say of what to do, he just had to play his part. Still, his heart tightened at the imagine of a crying Minhyuk, laying defeated in his arms.

''I'm sure he did!'' Heechul giggled and gave his shoulder one last pat before turning serious again:

"But what did he say to you?"

Jaehyo's smile tightened and he was sure the drop in volume was noticeable: "He told me to win... he told me to win, for him."

Heechul looked back at him with half hearted concern, corners of his mouth a little lifted to form a knowing smile before he shouted:

''Ladies and gentleman: Ahn Jaehyo of district 12!''.

Jaehyo stood up and bowed deeply, feeling the sea of screams rolling against him. When he looked up a camera was nearing his face, Zico's face went through his mind and before he realized what he was doing he had raised his hand and blew a kiss at the camera. He gave one last wink to the middle aged lady in the first row who pulled the front of her shirt lower so that Jaehyo could take a could look at her cleavage before turning around and walking of the stage, tears streaming down his face. 

When he went backstage he could hear Heechul trying to calm the crowd down. He tried to dry his eyes with the sleeves of his golden jacket and stained the expensive fabric with make up. He had kind of hoped to see his personal mentor's face when he walked through the empty corridors, instead an older man with a familiar aura was waiting in the dimply lit hall.  

''President Kim Young Min!'' Jaehyo bowed deeply, overcome with nervousness. 

It was too surreal, too soon, to come in touch with the most prominent figure in the country, possibly the world. He had only ever seen the president at large gatherings, for example the start of the games tomorrow. But it was clear to everyone that he was the one behind the scenes who ran it all. Whenever something happened, like the plague last year that spread everywhere and even reached some outer skirts of the Capitol, he was the face that would smooth out all worries with a sensible voice and calm face. It was also painfully clear that you shouldn't cross him. There were no public executions, no televised abuse, you would simply disappear. And Jaehyo couldn't help to notice that Zico turned a little pale by the sheer mention of Kim Young min's name. 

''It's okay, son'' Jaehyo looked up hesitantly while the president made his way to Jaehyo, stopping a little bit too close to Jaehyo. He smiled and Jaehyo could feel his warm breath on his face. ''I just wanted to congratulate you on the interview.''

''T-thank you, sir.'' Jaehyo stuttered, still not able to breathe properly.

''You know.. I was worried about you.'' President Kim spoke in a soft voice Jaehyo's heart began beating uncomfortable against his ribs now.

''I-I don-''

''After I saw your reaping I thought....'' Fingers drew over the flower pattern sowed into his outfit. ''But I realize I was wrong.'' He smiled softly. 

"We don't get a lot of your kind, you see.'' The elderly man moved even closer ''Let alone so beautiful...'' he whispered, his hand came to Jaehyo's face and a thumb stroked away a forgotten tear under his eyes. He was close now, so close, and Jaehyo felt like he was about to pass out when;

''Jaeh-'' A shout on the other hand of the corridor. "Oh''. 

''I'm sorry to disturb you president Kim.'' the voice apologized though there was no sincerity in his voice. ''I was just looking for my tribute''. 

''Good evening Woo Jiho,'' President Kim answered. He felt a new hand on his back and the one still lingering on his cheek fell away. Jaehyo opened the eyes he hadn't realized he had closed. Zico stood by his side and he was grateful to be pushed against his coach's side. Hopefully it made his quivering less obvious.

''I'm afraid you'll have to excuse us, president Kim. We still have a lot of preparing to do for tomorrow and Jaehyo needs his sleep.'' Zico smiled apologetically.

''Of course, we wouldn't want Jaehyo's sleep deprivation to influence his first day.'' Young Min smiled sweetly, his eyes glued to Jaehyo the entire time. 

''Thank you, sir.'' Zico bowed again, forcing Jaehyo down with him before pushing  past the president. When they finally reached the by now empty audience room Zico pushed him against the door.

''What the fuck was that earlier?'' The blonde man grabbed onto Jaehyo's collar and even though Jaehyo was older and bigger couldn't escape under Zico's iron grip. 

''It wasn't my fault!'' Jaehyo kicked Zico in the stomach but that only seemed to piss his coach off more, the grip becoming impossibly tighter and he could barely breath. ''The presid-''.

Zico let go off him and Jaehyo slumped down against the door. 

''Not that, the interview.'' 

''What the fuck are you talking about?'' The young man towered above him, returning his fiery gaze while Jaehyo spit his next words ''I played the game! Just as you told me to do, I played the fucking game.''

''A little too well if you ask me'' Zico murmured darkly.

''Everyone loved me'' Jaehyo bit back, remembering the cheering crowds and Heechul's approving eyes. 

''Not everyone.'' Zico answered bitterly, before moving to the back of the room to pour himself another glass. 

 _Minhyuk_. Jaehyo's head began to hurt and his stomach pain returned. 

''He understands. He must. He must understand.'' Zico turned around and looked at him with a shocked expression. Eyebrows raised impossibly high: ''Wh-..How do y-''.  

''He will understand, Minhyuk knows this isn't me. It's a show. It's all a show.'' 

Zico's expression turned back to the natural scowl that usually decorated his face, eyes maybe a tad disappointed, when he drank the liquor in one tug. However Jaehyo had pulled his legs against him. 

"Minhyuk knows me, he does, he does know me, he knows it's just a game, it's not real.'' Jaehyo muttered on, mostly to himself. 

He was suddenly very, very tired. He pulled his knees against his chest and buried himself in them whilst repeating his mantra in his head. Minhyuk _would_ understand. He was still himself, still the boy who decorated Minhyuk's black hair with the goldilocks when they sat outside in front of their house in the summer, the boy who would sing to Minhyuk when there was lighting because the older boy became so frightened that Jaehyo had to do everything to distract him, the one who helped Minhyuk with his homework when they were in high school, who fought side by side with Minhyuk when their safety was threatened. The one who sometimes held onto his friends hand when they went stargazing. This wasn't who he was and the person who he held most dear in the world ought to know so too. It was unfair to throw this at him.

He could hear Zico sigh on the other side of the room before making his way towards him, stopping right in front of Jaehyo.

''Drink.'' 

Jaehyo lifted his head and saw Zico standing in front of him a glass of liquor dangling in front of his face. Reaching out he grabbed the cold glass and Zico sat down next to him, keeping himself company with the entire bottle. Jaehyo threw the drink down in one gulp and shuddered, it was his first try with alcohol and it tasted absolutely disgusting but the warmth that spread through his body did not, making him feel a little  _tiny_ bit better. His glass was filled with another shot and he silently thanked his coach. 

They drank in silence for a bit before Zico broke it:

"You should be careful."  Zico murmured so quietly that Jaehyo checked to find they were indeed the only two people in the room. ''You're in more danger than you know.. it's not just -''

"Tomorrow...when you're in there, it's-" Zico started again after sighing deeply. "It's not like anything in the world, you'll feel like there are a thousand eyes watching you yet you're all alone, no matter how many allies you've made."

"You can trust no one Jaehyo, not a single one of them, not anyone you've ever met."

Jaehyo gulped down another portion and his heart pounded in his chest while Zico whispered on.

"I want you to remember who you are Jaehyo, no matter what happens, no matter what you'll do. Remember, _really_ , remember, or you'll loose yourself forever."

Zico washed the remaining substance of the now empty bottle down his throat before throwing it away.

"What does the eye thing mean?"

Zico looked at him as if Jaehyo was the most annoying person to have ever walked on this earth. His eyes slightly unfocused because of his half drunken state. 

"What 'I' thing?"

" 'Don't close your eyes' " Jaehyo slurred, the effect of the alcohol flowing through his body beginning to show. ''What does that mean?"

Jiho looked at Jaehyo for an unusual long time, a question on the tip of his tongue before shaking his head:

"Go to bed Jaehyo." A soft smile playing on his coaches' lips, catching Jaehyo so off guard that he had to blink a few times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "You'll need it." 


	10. 9

Jaehyo stared up at the ceiling, sighing quietly. His eyes were burning with tiredness but he knew that his sleep wouldn't consume him even if he really wanted it to. He doubted his dreams would have any good to offer tonight. Seeing no point in laying in his bed for the entire night so he let his feet touch the cold tiles of his bedroom. Putting on the neatly folded silken nightgown right by his bed stand he walked out of the door. His head felt heavy and it took him a while to notice the noises coming out of the room right across the hall, but when he listened carefully he could hear the muffled noises clearly. And yes, that was definitely a moan. His heart beat in is throat as he took slow steps to the door, his hand shook a little when he reached for the doorknob and, as silently as he could, turned it and peered in. Who knows what could be waiting behind that door? 

Zico was lying on top of Kyung as his mouth was occupied moving against the tributes' lips. Few of the long fingers focused on Kyung's nipples while the other moved around franticly in the younger's loose sweatpants. Jaehyo's cheeks flushed crimson red as he took in the sinful play before him. He quickly closed the door when he saw Kyung's squirm and moaning a quite: ''J-Jiho''.

Jaehyo let out a the breath he had been holding, it didn't bother him personally and he was mostly surprised. Even with how close they had been, he would never have foreseen this. But since it was most likely the last night of Kyung's lifetime who could blame him really? Jaehyo certainly couldn't. Loneliness fell over him like an ice cold blanket and for the first time since he had been reaped he wanted to shout, curse and throw various household objects. Instead he just laid his forehead against the wood of the door in an melancholy manner while groans and moans erupted on the other side. 

''Jaehyo?''  He could hear the breaking in the voice that whispered his name. 

''Taeil? Are you okay?" 

He turned around to see his smaller elder standing in the dark, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over as he waved Jaehyo's question away:

"Tsk, worry about yourself.'' Taeil smiled softly. ''I thought you would be sound asleep right now considering the state you were in when you came in.''

Jaehyo blushed once again. "Yeah.... Sorry if I woke you...''

Taeil smiled again, settling down on the couch. ''S'okay I think none of us will get much sleep tonight anyway.. And you deserved a little celebration. You did well, Jaehyo, your interview I mean.'' 

Jaehyo smiled at the ground and sat down in the chair next to the artificial fire place.  
  
''You might be the only one who thought so, Zico almost choked me.'' He chuckled. ''How did your interview go? I didn't get the chance to see it I'm afraid.''

''It went.. as well as it could have gone in my case. I doubt many will remember me when you were directly after me. Talk about casting a shadow!'' Taeil said. 

''Don't exaggerate.'' 

''I'm not, honestly. I can't believe it myself but I think district 12 might actually have a victor again-'' He put his finger up when he saw Jaehyo about to object. ''And no I'm not talking about Kyung.'' 

''You shouldn't think like that.'' Jaehyo murmured after a while. ''It's bad luck.'' 

''Luck can't help me now, Jaehyo. Not anymore.'' 

Jaehyo couldn't bare to look him in the eye and stared into the flames. In a mere few hours they would be surrounded by death and unimaginable other horrors and he needed to tell himself he was going to be okay. That they would all be okay. He didn't want to have this conversation and certainly not with the closest thing he has had to a friend these past few days. It seemed longer since he had been away from home. He thought of his father, how wise he had been. He would have known the perfect thing to say, known how to give Taeil the small comfort he desired and deserved. He might see them both soon enough in another place and that was comfort enough for now as he closed his eyes. It was quiet after that and Jaehyo thought Taeil might have fallen asleep when he asked his next question: 

''Tell me about Minhyuk.'' 

''Why?'' 

''Just humor me.'' Taeil scoffed. 

''Hyukie, he's.. To be honest he has the worst temper!'' Jaehyo blurted out with a smile. ''He collects these small keys,from the old days, you see. I don't know where he finds them but they look old. Anyway, he bought in a new one, one morning and it was rather dirty so I thought I would clean it for him. So, among other things, I washed it in our tub but I lost it.. just for a little while though! But when Minhyuk came in... he looked like he would bite my head off!'' Jaehyo laughed, remembering the Minhyuk's bulging eyes and the vain in his neck sticking out more than usual. ''It was my fault though, he hates it when I touch..  when I touched his stuff.'' 

''He is really kind. '' Jaehyo continued. "He will always put my needs before his own, if I let him. He can read me like a book, it's annoying to be honest. I always try to surprise him on his birthday but he can see me coming from miles. I know because he's a terrible, terrible liar.'' Jaehyo turned around in his chair and feigned a surprised look accompanied with a 'you shouldn't have!' in a manner that would embarrass every actor that ever lived. Taeil giggled and nodded to Jaehyo to continue. ''He's smart too! He doesn't show it too often because he says it has no use, but he is. Maybe clever is the better word for it, after all he never cared much for studying'' Jaehyo frowned before realizing he was getting off point. ''Sorry, I don't even know what I'm saying he's just.. he's just Minhyuk, I wish you could meet him you'd get along'' 

''You love him.'' Taeil stated. 

''Of course'' Jaehyo muttered, strangely embarrassed. ''He's the only one who has always been there for me no matter what. Minhyuk is like family to me'' 

Taeil hummed and Jaehyo didn't know exactly what that was supposed to mean but they quickly engaged about details of Taeil's life at home. He told Jaehyo about his mother who could cook the most delicious sponge cakes, about his little brother whom Taeil was convinced he would run for Mayor one day and his strict but righteous father who worked in the local government. Taeil liked board games, rainy afternoons, books, his family, collecting hats, and above all fish. ''You're my second important friend, after my fish!'' Taeil exclaimed and Jaehyo laughed like he hadn't in days. He wished he could have more time to get to know Taeil.

But all too soon Jihoon entered with the other coaches close behind. His personal coach smiled sadly;

''It's time."

Jaehyo froze but Taeil rose and walked over to his friend's chair. Leaning forward he kissed Jaehyo's cheek which immediately turned red under his touch. 

''I- I'll see you there!'' The black haired boy stated, he turned around to walk away with his coach but not before he whispered a ''thank you''. For what Jaehyo did not know. 

Kyung and Jiho stepped out of the bedroom and the Kyung's personal coach raised his eyebrows so high that he looked even scarier than before. He strode over to the two lovers and roughly grabbed Kyung by his arm to drag him out of the room. Zico just snickered and joined them at the fireplace. 

Jihoon put down his suitcase next to Jaehyo and sat it down in front of him to open. In it was a scary looking device that resembled his late father's syringes. Jaehyo gulped but Jihoon left it for what it was and sat down on his knees in front of Jaehyo. 

''Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on your interview. I tried to speak to you last night but..'' Zico's booming laugh interrupted Jihoon and he said something that sounded a whole lot like ''drunken weasel'' under his breath. ''I'm proud of you, Jaehyo.'' Jihoon smiled and Jaehyo suddenly felt like crying. He realized this was their final goodbye and he now realized how attached he had grown to his young, red haired, bubbly coach. 

''T-thank you.'' Jaehyo stuttered. ''For everything I mean, I don-''

''Do we have to drag this out?'' Zico groaned, Jihoon shot him an annoyed look but Jiho just tapped on his imaginary watch on his wrist in return. 

''Jaehyo, you know what to do once you're in there. Get yourself to the meeting place and team up with your group. Ignore the weapons and other items when you're on your way. There will be plenty of time to find those once you're not as vulnerable as you are when you're alone.'' Jihoon advised. 

''But Tao said-''

''Fuck Tao'' Zico spit annoyed. ''You need to think about your own safety first. We all know you're not really the one on one combat type, sweetheart.''

Jaehyo balled up his fists in agitation but knew he wasn't in an position to argue. He sighed defeated ''It won't make a difference, you know. Whether I survive the first killing round or not...'' 

''You know damn well you owe it to Minhyuk to try.'' 

Jaehyo looked away but he could feel the burning glare of Zico on the side of his face. He did promise Minhyuk, sort of. But can his best friend really hold on to a promise they both know is empty?

''Just do what we told you and you'll be...'' Jihoon replied in a soothing manner. ''Just get through the first fe-''

''Jihoon'' Zico hissed sharply. There was a knock on the door and Jaehyo knew by the way Jihoon's body froze that didn't mean anything good. Quickly Jihoon got the syringe out of the briefcase. 

He hesitantly hold up his hand: ''May I?"

Jaehyo knew he had no other choice but he was grateful for the sentiment. He nodded and cool fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled his sleeve up. Quicker that he could see coming the needle shoved into his arm and squeezed a liquid into his veins. 

The last thing he remembered was Jihoon's sorrowful smile. 

 

\------------------

Jaehyo eyes fluttered open. He was laying on his side and his cheek was resting on gravel, hurting the sensitive skin. It took him a moment to figure out where he was when the first sound disrupted the sky:

''10'' 

He rose up, sweat formed under his clothes in the burning sun light. He looked down, tall brown boots reached up to his knees and grey trousers followed. Around his waste was an holster which carried a metallic water bottle, a little bag and a sword holder which contained an small silver dagger. His grey sweatshirt ran long on the back and was made of thick but breathing material. 

''9''.

Jaehyo looked around him. A fresh new arena in front of him, miles and miles of burned out houses, collapsed buildings and stones, so many stones. He wondered if there would be any source of water near him at all.

''8''

He couldn't see any tributes near him. He was standing upon what looked a roof of what used to be some sort of public building. The streets before him looked to form a maze of different floors and heights. If he jumped he could surely reach the next platform to the left of him.

''7''. 

He wondered where Taeil and Minho were, they had decided to regroup in the south. Joy had educated them how to learn to read the sun. It was still before noon and when he faced the sun the shadow was directly behind him, indicating that he was facing east. He turned to look at the direction he would be heading. 

''6'' 

He was wrong, he wasn't alone. About 50 meters away from him a girl was hiding, blonde hair framed her face and her sharp eyes watch Jaehyo closely.Hwasa. 

''5'' 

He realized he was exposed but he couldn't move, not yet. Hwasa stared back at him, calculating his movements. He could jump down, when they had reached the ending of the countdown. and face her in one on one combat. Jaehyo had noticed the girls of Red Velvet observing everyone in the training room and their eyes were locked on Jaehyo when he entered the wrestling area. Nevertheless she also had observed Jaehyo's kindness and reluctant for violence so she might not see him as much of a threat after all. Then again it wouldn't be the first time that someone's personality changed when they entered the arena. 

''4'' 

He looked down, it was too high to jump down and he would have to leap if he wanted to reach the balcony of the house in front of him. He moved back as far as he could to make the jump when that anticipated start signal was called. 

''3''

The sunlight was hurting his eyes, the air was tight around him. He squinted and tried to look as far as he could. There, slightly to his left, a large building with tall columns. 

''2''

It stood out because of two reasons: 1: it was the only building with was left in its entirety, completely undamaged. As if it was carefully chosen to, prehaps to leave a message. 2: Jaehyo knew that building, from deep within his mind it struck a chore. The hairs in the back of his neck stood up when the realization hit him. 

''1''

District 13.

The new arena was district 13. 


	11. 10

_''1"_

_District 13._  
  
The new arena is district 13. 

Pushing back the thought for now he ran and jumped over the roof. He didn't bother to look behind to see what Hwasa was up to, she may be fast but Jaehyo was faster. If he didn't trip at least. He landed softly on the next platform crouching around the building as far as he could. So far he could see no other tributes but he knew he had to be quick. They were never placed too far from each other and he knew that in the center there would be the most weapons and thus the biggest bloodbath. It wouldn't be long now until-

A canon went off, shaking Jaehyo to his core. 

Only 35 left to go.

Running over the top of the houses he could reach the south end pretty far. The shining town hall coming closer in the corner of his eye. He reached the end of the block and now he stood in front of a crossroad. Literally. He couldn't jump to the next block of houses and he had two choices: either go down through the hole in the roof and leave through the front door or he could use the drainpipe to slide down the side of the house. Neither were really appealing because he was either tremendously exposed and vulnerable or he had to go into the dark hole of the roof where god knows what could be lurking. Jaehyo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before sliding down the side of the house. His fear of the unknown booby traps and monsters weighted out being stabbed in the back by another tribute. Two canon's fired close after each other. 33.

He was close to some sort of square with a fountain now, as he ran through the streets. He figured that was close enough to the ''big, obnoxious meeting point'' that Tao said there would most likely be. Now he just hoped that the other tributes decided to go east. All of a sudden he collided with an unknown figure, knocking him to the ground. As fast as he could he reached for his dagger and pointed it in front of him as he pushed him off of the ground. The tribute in front of him decided to do the same. 

''Chen?'' Jaehyo breathed. 

The shaking dagger that was pointed at his chest lowered and Chen sighed in relief:

''Thank god it's you.'' 

Jaehyo just nodded in agreement though he still put away his dagger with caution. He had only been in the arena for 15 minutes and he was already doubting his team members. He couldn't even describe the feeling yet, adrenaline was pumping through his veins and his body was more focused than it had ever been. Either his brain was still adjusting to the new situation as everything just felt surreal, or it was too much to comprehend in the first place. 

''So.. district 13.'' Jaehyo said conversationally .

''Huh?"

''The arena? It's district 13, look there, to your right. The old town hall." Jaehyo pointed out. 

For a second Chen paled but then he shrugged:

''Won't make much difference.. an arena is an arena, no matter where it's located.''

Jaehyo vaguely nodded again. 'What a naive thought' he wondered, perhaps he had misjudged Chen.

Every arena had it's own ''special effects'' and a lot of them are going to die by the hand of the Capitol instead of other tributes. He couldn't even imagine what would be thrown at them now, in the heart of the Capitols former arch nemesis. He didn't have time to consider that now, not when Chen was tugging at his long sleeved t-shirt.

Cautious, they ran past close to the houses as fast as they could, hands on their daggers. Running for about another 10 minutes they reached the fountain, Chen began to fill his water bottle and Jaehyo caught himself thinking that it might be best if Chen tasted the liquid first, you could never be too sure. The statue in the fountain was high, it depicted men and women struggling and crawling over each other to grab the rose that was in the hand of one of the peasants. Water streamed out of the in mouths and their faces were painted with agony. With the white marble it seemed too grant and too expensive to have been there originally and Jaehyo wrecked his brain thinking about what kind of hidden message could be written in this piece of ''art''. 

Meanwhile Chen gulped down the water watching Jaehyo with curiosity as he began to climbed the at least 8 meters high stone. The marble was wet and it would be easy to slip but the way it was cut made it easy to latch your fingers onto. Within minutes Jaehyo stood on top of the statue and viewed down into the arena. The houses were build low and Jaehyo remembered that most of district 13 was build underground. In the past it was even whispered that there were children from 13 who had never seen the sun.

The street plan lay in front of him as a maze, the brown stone houses build close to each other. Narrow back street and dark holes made a frightening image. There was too much uncertainty, too many ways to get lost. They square was almost serene around them but Jaehyo knew they couldn't stay. They were too much in the clear and an one on one fight would cause certain death. In the distance he could already see the fighting and he had to grab onto the stone rose when three canons were fired off close to each other. 30. 

''Hey asshole!'' 

He turned around on the marble face he was standing on and Tao was coming from even further west, Minho and Lay close behind. Tao's left side was covered in blood and Jaehyo wondered if he was responsible for one of the six. He seemed to be mostly unharmed so Jaehyo figured that that must been the case. He wondered whose blood decorated his shirt. Chen, however, didn't seem to notice and smiled endearingly when he saw his team members arrive. EXO-M was already complete and it didn't take long for the locks of green hair that belonged to Joy to join them too. Minho helped him off the statue and they discussed the new arena while Joy sat close besides Jaehyo, holding onto him if only slightly. 

''Have you run into other tributes yet?'' Jaehyo questioned, using his knife to carve his name in the stone. 

''No... strangely enough I haven't encountered a singly one of the careers.'' Minho frowned. 

Careers was used for those an alliance between the volunteers of the richest capitols. Usually they were from the same districts and they almost always win. They were strong, trained killers and just happened to be their biggest enemies. Of course that was the risk you took when you ganged up with EXO-M but Jaehyo had a slight feeling they would come after him too considering how successful his interview had been. Zico had warned him about being on their hit list and they would surely make a spectacle of killing him if they got their hands on him. Perhaps he was better of slicing his own throat.  

''Me neither, I was placed close to one of the Mamamoo girls but we each went our own way, as expected.'' Jaehyo pondered. 

''Something's... different this year.''

Minho was right, the amount of killing was very limited to other years. The arena seemed bigger though that could be an optical illusion. Still, there was something in the air. 

Taemin arrived with Sunny besides him, Minho beamed when he saw his younger friend. He had been fidgeting before and was obviously glad to have see him arriving safe and sound. Taemin however was as pale as a sheet and shook visibly as Sunny set him down on the edge of the fountain. She was carrying a large machete on her back and used the water to rinse the dirt that had already gathered off her face. 

''So, what do you think that means?'' Minho nodded to the statue behind them. 

''Well I-''

''Yo pretty boy, hate to interrupt, really, but it might have occurred to you that we're in a fucking arena to fight each other to death like goddamn gladiators, so we might need to get a move on.'' Tao all but shouted. 

Joy's fingers grabbed onto the grey material of his t-shirt and Minho shout him a vile look. 

''Taeil isn't here yet.''

Tao groaned and rolled back his head so extravagantly that it looked like he might faint, before stepping closer to the trio:

''Look, chances are, he is dead.'' 

Jaehyo froze inside before the anger boiling inside him heated him up. ''Take that back!'' 

''Dead as an doornail'' Tao provoked, slightly smirking. 

Jaehyo shot up but Minho was quicker, slapping Tao flat handed across the cheek. Tao's head whipped back by force and for a while it was stuck in that position before spitting out a tiny amount of blood and looking back at Minho with an bored expression. 

''We're not leaving until we are complete.'' Minho spit through his teeth. 

Tao stared back at him with an unreadable expression. 

'' _We_ are. Chen, Lay, let's go.'' 

Tao picked up the backpack he had dropped, while Lay looked up confused at the mention of his name. Minho grabbed Tao's arm:

''You're really going to take on the careers with just the three of you?''

''We'll die anyway if we stay here any longer. They will be here any second now.'' 

Tao roughly tore his arm loose and used it to pull Lay up from the ground and murmuring ''get a move on.'' 

Chen looked at Jaehyo apologetically until he moved around to follow Tao. 

''Wait!'' Minho shouted. He clenched his feet before turning around and looking at Jaehyo with pleading eyes. Jaehyo's jaw locked when he read the situation. They had just arrived and their alliance was already fallen apart. 'Even Minho' was his only thought. If he trusted anyone, besides Taeil, it was Minho. He had expected this from Tao but certainly not from the tall black haired man with the gentlest eyes. It didn't matter, they all betrayed him in the end. They always did. 

''Go then!'' Jaehyo sat back down on the bench, angrily looking down the road and desperately hoping Taeil would be with him soon. 

''Jaehyo... You've got to see tha-'' 

''Don't tell me what I should and should not see! If you want to leave so badly then just leave.''

''We've got no other choice! Tao is right w-''  Minho pleaded.

''Nobody is forcing you to stay here.'' Jaehyo whispered, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Meanwhile the rest of them just looked at them quietly. Even the EXO-M trio hadn't left and it was clear that they were reluctant to do so. Even Tao had to acknowledge the fact that they were no match whatsoever for the carreers. It was silent as the wind blew quietly, spreading the loose brown sand everywhere. 

''I'm staying with Jaehyo.'' Joy whispered, still holding onto Jaehyo's arm. Jaehyo looked at her like with gentle eyes and a strange sense of fatherly proudness. Joy's expression wasn't one of doubt, but complete certainty as she looked down the road in the same direction as Jaehyo. Jaehyo didn't look behind to see what the rest where up to but he could feel Minho's desperate stare on the side of his face. 

''He's not coming back, you know.'' Tao muttered. 

Jaehyo felt an unknown feeling of hatred boil up inside as he spring up and pulled out his knife. The silver blade shone in the bright sunlight:

''Leave.'' 

''What are you going to do?'' Tao snickered. ''Stab me?'' 

Jaehyo took a step closer to Tao, his knife trembling slightly. He could see the humorous glance in Tao's eyes disappear and be replaced with the primal instinct when faced with danger. His eyes became smaller and his left arm slowly reached for his own weapon. Behind Tao the other two boys took steps toward the rubble. Jaehyo's heart beat in his throat, should he? _Could_ he? His anger seemed to surge him forward but his gentle nature seemed to urge him back. The tension around them was thick and Jaehyo had trouble thinking straight, Tao pulled out his knife and he could hear the sound of steel against steel at his left. 

''If you could all lower your testosterone level for 5 fucking minutes...'' Sunny called out, tilting her head to the other side.

There was Taeil and Jaehyo breathed out in relief. Except, he was not alone. And it was no surprise that everyone around the fountain jumped up, ready to fight. Next to Taeil, leaning his weight on the small boy as he struggled to walk, the black haired boy with 'M'-shaped hair from district 5. 

Kai. 


	12. 11

 

''No stop!'' Taeil called out, his voice slightly higher than usual. ''He doesn't mean any harm! He's wounded.'' 

''Like hell he is!'' Tao marched forward with big steps, his demeanor changing to that of a cat caught in distress.

Tao ripped Kai out of Taeil's hands, who moaned lightly at the sudden movement. Now that Jaehyo's eyes were beginning to focus he could see how bad he was looking. His ankle seemed to be broken, his skin was pale compared to his usual dark complexion, eyes half closed and unfocused.

Next to him Joy was pointing her weapon towards the group though her aim seemed to be leaning more towards Tao than Kai. He slowly laid his hand on her wrist looking at her with reassuring eyes. She looked back at his with a wondering look before nodding slightly in understanding and putting her dagger away. Jaehyo didn't know exactly why, but he knew that Kai wouldn't hurt them. Mostly because, at the moment, he wouldn't be able to kill a fly in the condition he was in. But also because he remembered Kai from the training room, he wasn't like the others, he was kinder, gentle maybe. 

Meanwhile Tao had put his sword at Kai's throat while Taeil was doing his best to calm the situation down. He waved his arms upside down, spoke in the most soothing voice he could manage in his panicked state and it wasn't long until he called out for Jaehyo. 

Taeil and Jaehyo shared a short glance and it was clear that they understood each other, that Kai was to be trusted.

''Tao, think for a second.'' Jaehyo had reached up his hands and walked to them slowly, stopping a mere few meters in front. The knife was already cutting into the dark skin of Kai's neck and blood was streaming down the length of the blade. 

''Think?'' Tao roared. ''Think?! Have you lost your damn mind?'' 

''You need to calm down'' Taeil tried quietly. 

Tao's grip loosened but his eyes kept that same mad glance. Kai seemed a little bit more present now, maybe the pain in his neck made him more alert. Perhaps the shouting around him had awoken him out of his dream like state. 

''H-He's the enemy.'' Tao argued, sounding less certain. 

''We can use him in our favour.'' Jaehyo reasoned.

''Who knows the carreers better than a carreer?'' Taeil followed up. 

Tao nodded once and you could almost see the wheels in his mind turning. 

''Just let him go.'' Jaehyo whispered and slowly Tao's arm fell to his side. 

It was clear that Kai had trouble standing on his own but he was free. Taeil sighed in relief and Jaehyo also let out the breath he had been holding. The rest of the group still had their swords drawn but Lay was already putting it away and the rest seemed to follow suit. Jaehyo looked down kindly upon Kai, trying to reassure that he had not forgotten their time out on the tracks. Kai smiled back hesitantly and took a step forward. His brown eyes slightly tearful in what seemed to be gratitude mixed with pain. He was about to open his mouth to form words of thanks when a long sword was struck through him. 

The tip of the blade almost reached the front of Jaehyo's chest as he looked down in horror. Kai's mouth was wide open as he struggled to breath. Out of the corner of his mouth blood began to drip over his chin. The blade was pulled back smoothly and it was as if Jaehyo could feel the pain in his own chest. As if it was his own heart that had been pierced. The younger boy in front of him fell upon his knees, tears rolled over his cheeks as his last breath pulled through him. His muscles gave one last shock as he fell down and moved no more. 

Jaehyo looked down, blood seeped through the cracks between the stones, reaching Jaehyo's brown boots. He looked up and Tao stood with his sword, still in fighting position. All he could hear was his own heartbeat pounding around him. He could see Taeil's lips frantically moving up and down but he couldn't hear what was being said. He quickly averted his gaze back to Kai's now empty eyes that stared up at the sky. Jaehyo looked into those bottomless pitts for what seemed like forever when he was pulled by his arm with such force that he almost fell down. 

The sound came back like a band-aid quickly pulled off a painful wound. There was so much noise that he had trouble concentrating, when he looked up he could see Tao fighting Kyuhyun with a sword. Chen was laying on the ground with three arrows in his chest. His eyes staring into nothingness, Lay was still trying to mend his wounds, either not knowing that Chen was already dead or simply denying it. The canon went of. ''34'' Jaehyo dully noted in his mind. 

He looked around him and hoped on some sort of support of his other allies but Sunny,Taemin and Minho were nowhere in sight.  How long had they been gone for? Jaehyo couldn't seem to remember. 

''We've got to go!'' Taeil screamed, squeezing into Jaehyo's hard muscles of his upper arm. Jaehyo looked back, Joy had pulled out her knife and was hiding behind the fountain. Looking in the east, and there she was. Taeyeon had her bow and arrow stretched and was pointing it at the quarreling, experienced fighters. She was standing up one of the tallest houses and had a perfect overview of the square. Totally exposed, yet she was alone with not one of her friends near. The careers had spit up, and Jaehyo didn't know if that was a genius move or a very stupid one. There was no way of telling if they were hiding behind in one of the dark houses, though. Yet he made up his mind. 

''No...'' Jaehyo murmured, his eye fell on Taeil's back. On his shoulders rested a old fashioned crossbow. He didn't know where Taeil managed to pick up that, perhaps Kai had found it. Quickly he pulled the crossbow out of Taeil's open backpack. He could hear Taeil shout his name from behind. 

Joy looked behind her when she heard someone entering the fountain. Jaehyo took big steps in the water, his boots protecting his feet from the lukewarm water. She locked her eyes with him as Jaehyo grabbed the crossbow. He almost screamed in desperation when he realized he had no arrows to shoot with. 

''Here'' Taeil was next to him, holding out an arrow. 

Jaehyo snatched it out of his hand and strained the string. Taeyeon was still pointing her weapon at Tao and Kyuhyun but with the speed the two tributes moved in, it was too difficult to strike her target. 

Jaehyo pointed it at her, trying his best to aim right. He pulled the trigger. 

The arrow flew past her shoulder, merely scratching the skin. Still it was enough for her to cry out from the shock and to let go of the string she was holding. Her arrow landed in the sand, a few meters from the quarrel. 

With eyes full of hatred she looked directly at Jaehyo. Then she flew down to grab something out of her backpack. 

''Quick, she's going to reload!'' Joy whispered, hiding behind the marble statue. 

Taeil's shaking hands gave him the next arrow, Jaehyo reached to grab it but it slipped through his fingers. Cursing, Jaehyo crouched down to find the arrow in the moving water, fingertips desperately grasping against the bottom of the fountain. 

Joy shrieked and Jaehyo looked back at Taeyeon. A gun in her hands.

Jaehyo grabbed Taeil and pushed them down in the water, hiding behind a fountain. He dared to peek behind the marble, expecting the gun to be pointed at them or at Tao and Lay at least. But nothing was less true, when Taeyeon pointed the gun at the sky. 

With the sound of fireworks a red light shot up the sky. Even in the sunlight, that was now setting, it shone brightly in the blue welkin. Everyone looked up to see it dissolve high in the sky. 

Not a single person in this arena would have missed this signal, and the all knew it. 

''Lay, go!'' Tao shouted, desperately stabbing at Kyuhyun. 

''We need to go, Jaehyo.'' Joy whispered, eyes wide in fear. 

He wasn't really paying attention, his eyes were locked with Taeyeon's once again. A lazy smirk graced her lips and Jaehyo reached down to to grab the arrow in the water, finding it instantly. His target did the same, and he knew Taeil was talking to him, he could feel Joy's hand on his back, and somewhere far away he realized Lay had joined them. But right now he was focused on nothing else but Taeyeon. He knew they didn't have long and it didn't seem like Taeil had any more arrows for him to shoot. One shot, that's all it takes. 

''Wait.'' Joy whispered. 

Reaching between two marble faces she reached to grab one of the hands. Confusion spread across her face when she moved the hands toward them. Suddenly the water beneath them started to disappear, flowing out artificial cracks that weren't there before. Jaehyo looked down and saw the last stream of water slip through the cracks. 

''Look'' Lay murmured, pointing at a hatch door in the floor. 

Jaehyo's eyes flashed to Joy, how? How did she know that was there? He didn't have a lot of time to wonder because a searing pain ripped through his shoulder. Shocked he looked down, an arrow had settled deep within his flesh and blood was beginning to pour out. He looked up to that house and Taeyeon was laughing now, throwing back her head as two tributes joined her on the roof. 

''Go!'' Jaehyo shouted, pushing Joy roughly towards the door. 

Joy jumped down into the dark and Lay quickly followed. Taeil was beginning to his descent when he looked back at Jaehyo who had reached up his crossbow once again. 

'One shot'

He pulled the trigger and the laughing he could almost hear from where he was standing, stopped. Taeil's eyes widened in shock as they locked with Jaehyo's. After a few seconds he moved down into the darkness. Jaehyo ran and jumped down, pulling down the hatch door behind him. 

A canon went off. 

''33'' He whispered. 


	13. 12

Jaehyo fell down on the cold, humid ground after closing the hatch door. His shoulder throbbed and he clutched onto the arrow while blood seeped out of his wound and streamed through his fingers. He was alive, and he would be judging from the position he was hit. Joy leaped forward and grabbed the little brown backpack she had been carrying on her back. It was dead quiet until Taeil spoke up:

''We've got to move''. 

Jaehyo nodded, looked at the arrow before locking his eyes with Taeil. The smaller boy took a shaky breath and pushed up his glasses before seating himself in front of Jaehyo. 

''Ready?''

Jaehyo closed his eyes. Taeil's fingers wrapped around the arrow and quicker than Jaehyo could comprehend the object was pulled out of his flesh. Joy quickly but neatly stitched his skin together to stop the bleeding, murmuring about being a nurse before when some eyebrows were raised.

Another canon was off and Jaehyo looked around the dark tunnel. Lay was standing in the back, his face paler than usual and seemingly fighting back tears, Joy was mending to his wound and Taeil was cleaning off the arrow for re-use. Tao was still outside fighting, although he might be lying motionlessly on the ground next to Chen by now.  

''Where are Sunny, Taemin and Minho?'' 

Taeil took a deep breath. ''They just... they disappeared..'' he spoke with a frown, as if he had a hard time connecting the dots himself. 

They left. In the most important fight of perhaps their life. Minho betrayed him, again. Oh how he had misjudged the handsome boy, and through doing so he had exposed them all to a lot of danger. Zico had been wrong, it are not the weak who drag you down, weren't it the strong who betrayed again and again? Perhaps it's better to strike than to be stricken, better to be the sparrow than the snail. Jaehyo couldn't be sure, he'd rather be weak than be disloyal. Nevertheless the surge of anger seemed to release adrenaline inside his body and he gently pushed Joy's hands away. 

He needed to focus. In a way he felt responsible for the group, a stupid and reckless feeling, yes, but he knew the others felt the same way. He could feel the way Taeil stared at him through his glasses, could almost see himself in Joy's mind. Handsome, strong. A leader. For now he would oblige, he would feed the illusion by pretending, even though he could feel the faint aching in the back of his neck. An emotion waiting to be released. 

Focus, the brown haired boy told himself. The tunnel before him was near pitch black but he could faintly make out a light in the back of the tunnel. His hand reached out the side of the wall, the wet cobblestone felt rough beneath his finger tips. 

''What should we do now?'' Joy questioned. 

Lay was still standing as still as a statue. The corner of his mouth seemed to erratically move up and down. Taeil, who was smarter than all of them, seemed to be at a loss for words. Eventually Jaehyo came up with this:

''We only have two options as for now. If we go up, we will most likely be ambushed by the careers. So the only sensible option is to go forward and find out where this tunnel leads us. We should find a way to go up soon, the Capitol won't like us hiding away in the dark so they will come up with a way to chase us up."

Taeil turned and stared through into the darkness. Softly, so that only Jaehyo could hear he asked:

"What about the mutts?"

The mutts, short for mutants, were the Capitols' special surprise. Every year they came up with more sensational, and cruel, monsters, creatures formed by multiple different animals, deadly insects and much more. They helped to "spice up" the came, chased contestants together if they were too far apart and made for some pretty horrific fights. 

''I will go first!'' Joy said while she ran into the black hall, disappearing immediately. 

''No! Joy, wait up!' Jaehyo shouted, running past a motionless lay.

In the beginning Jaehyo saw nothing. The dark seemed to suffocate him and he could barely hear anything than his own breath which seemed to be louder than ever. When the panic began to seep in he shouted Joy's name again. 

"I'm here!"

The tunnel became smaller and smaller, and lighter, the further he walked through it until the Jaehyo reached a round room. Through tiny holes in the ceiling there was a faint sunlight and Joy was standing underneath. 

''Ho-'' 

But before Jaehyo could utter the words Joy motioned for them to be silence. Footsteps could be heard upstairs, but fainter. Shuffling and the dragging of what he thought to be feet. But that was not what made the hairs on his back stand up, a faint moaning, sometimes groaning could be heard. And a sound that Jaehyo could only describe as inhuman. Mutts. 

While Taeil catched up with them, dragging Lay with him by his wrist, the four of them stared up when a large bang could be heard from the end of the tunnel. And another, continuing until a door seemed to open. Upstairs an uproar broke loose, running falling, banging on the floor above them. Through one of the bigger holes Jaehyo could swear he could see an bloodshot eye, franticly looking up and down.  

''Run!'' 

Jaehyo grabbed Joy and Taeil by their hands and ran into one of the tunnels.

"Lay!" Taeil shouted, twisting his head around to stare at the tall, dark haired boy who was standing almost peacefully in the middle of the circle. He looked up and smiled serenely, making eye contact with the trio that had almost stopped running, before the roof caved out. Taeil screamed out his name and Jaehyo pulled the two with him as he began to ran again, trying to blink away his tears while running faster. Joy sobbed silently next to him. 

Behind them they could hear footsteps but none of them dared to look behind. A bloody scream of someone Jaehyo was pretty sure wasn't Lay came from the room Jaehyo picked up his pace. when he bumped into a wall. 

''It's a dead end!'' 

Jaehyo grabbed his knife and turned around. Nothing could be heard except the dripping of his blood, pouring down from is wound all the way to his fingertips.They all hold their breath. Something, or someone, seemed to slowly but surely come closer. Jaehyo was so close to death, he could practically taste it now. He imagined he would feel anger, to be spiteful in his last moments about his untimely death. Instead he though of home, he thought of his house on the hill, far away from the city. He thought of Ukwon, his closest friend. He thought of everyone he had passed in his lifetime and had left a permanent mark on his life, and no one. Subconsciously he suppressed the image of a certain someone, while his heart cried out in it's absence. 

Jaehyo could faintly register that the 'thing' approaching was definitely not human, though it seemed unlikely an animal since it was on two legs. But it was breathing, but not because it had to. Irregular with long pause's, longer than any human could withstand. 

That was when a hand pulled him backwards. It was day again, and so bright. When his eyes focused he knew who had pulled them, someone next to him pushed the door shut and something smacked against it. On the other side a scream, filled with rage and hatred, erupted. 

''Are you okay?''

''Leave them alone Moonbyul, they're nothing to us.''

''But he's _bleeding_ ''.

The blonde girl glared with black lined eyes down onto Moonbyul, though her eyes shined with unmistaken affection. 

''How did you know how to open that wall?'' Taeil questioned, choosing to ignore '' _they're nothing to us''_.

''What does it m-''

''It just appeared!'' Moonbyul spoke with a glint of joy in her eyes. ''We were just running past this house when we saw this door shining and when we ran in we shook off the mutts who were chasing us. It was amazing'' 

She spoke the last words with pauses to emphasize her childish happiness. 

''Appeared?'' Taeil questioned. 

Moonbyul shook her head enthusiastically while taking a bite of the piece of apple Hwasa had tossed her. 

''Guess you have to to thank _him_ for that.'' Hwasa was stopped her work to point her knife towards Jaehyo. 

Right, the sponsors. With the throbbing pain in his shoulder, the death he had witnessed and the constant adrenaline souring through his body creating a surreal dimension, he had almost forgotten that they were indeed playing a game. Jaehyo tried to remember if something had happened similarly to this in the past but failed to do so. The intrusion of the game makers seemed much more evident than in previous years, indeed, everything about this year seemed... off. He couldn't decide if that was a side effect of actually  _being_  in the games or if there was something more going on. 

''We need to go.'' 

Hwasa put the last piece of apple in her mouth and pulled Moonbuyl up from the ground. 

''Wait!'' Taeil pushed himself up from the ground. ''You said you were chased by mutts? What exactly do you mean by that?''

Both of the girls paled, the terror evident in their eyes, after a few moments Hwasa answered:

''You'll know when you see them'''. 

She immediately turned around and walked out of the door. Moonbuyl smiled apologetically before twirling around and running after Hwasa. Jaehyo presumed that would be the last they would ever see of them, unless they were to face them in the final match, he doubted he would get that far. 

''It'll get dark soon, we should stay here overnight." Jaehyo looked around the room for the first time, there were windows but no glass, the door was missing and the foundation was mainly made of wood combined with sand- colored bricks. They were too exposed, though returning to the tunnel was not an option. Call him paranoid, but he felt like he could still hear nails scratching over the surface. 

''Let's take watch, I'll go first.'' Jaehyo spoke silently. Joy, who had finished taking another quick look at the cut in his shoulder, was already half asleep against his arm. 

Taeil nodded and laid down against one of the walls but didn't close his eyes. Jaehyo could feel the older boys eyes burning in his back. Jaehyo would turn around but he felt ashamed. A feeling he couldn't exactly place at the moment but a burning emotion deep enough that he knew he wouldn't be able to shake it off. He would carry this with him for the rest of his short life and for the first time since he entered the arena he became aware of the camera's. He didn't see them, but he knew they were there. His shame couldn't be denied, it was shared with the entire nation, everyone had been a spectator to his deed.

Vaguely he remembered his conversation with Taeil before the games. Hadn't he agreed with Taeil when questioned if he would kill? Hadn't he anticipated his future reality? So why did he feel so estranged from what he did, why did he feel like a whole new person? He divided himself as such: me before the murder, and me after the murder. Two inconsolable parts that were glued together by nothing but his name. 

He thought of home, but not his own. He thought of her family, who must be grieving in their home at this moment cursing at the T.V. when they see his face. He thought of her lover, in an empty bed where she would never take her place again. He thought of everything that makes up a human life and whatever turns it into oblivion. The monster wasn't a vague abstract childish fear that you would fear lived under your bed. Not a shadow that preyed on a girl walking to her home in the middle of the night.The monster had a face, brown hair, almond brown eyes and a prominent philtrum. Suddenly felt relieved that he would meet his end in this arena for he could never return home.

''It's not your fault.'' Taeil's soft voice whispered in the dark. 

Jaehyo's hand gripped the knife in his hand harder, and selfishly pulled Joy closer to him, craving human comfort for one of the first moments in his life, while tears streamed down his face. 

_''It is.''_


End file.
